Old Bear, New Tricks
by Teacher Bear
Summary: The Mulcahey family has found a place to call home, or so they think. Upon arrival, they are greeted with unfair judgements. Back in Care-A-Lot, Grams Bear's life with her grandchildren is changing. Part three of the continuing story.


**Old Bear, New Tricks**

Ch. 1: Plans to Leave

Saint Anne's Homeless Shelter was teeming with hope, love, and anticipation as some of its inmates had begun to pack their things to leave. More often than not, inmates had a tendency to return to this place in worse condition than they had left. However, this time everyone seemed to know that the colorful Mulcahey family would not be the case, especially with the help of two kindly old friends who had come to their aid.

In the office of Saint Anne's sat the plump little shelter keeper, an old priest, a bespectacled little navy blue bear, several stacks of phone books, and two telephones. The shelter keeper, Mrs. McBride, had brought out every phone book she could find in preparation for her guests departure. The old priest, Father Francis Mulcahey, had begun looking through one of the books for the phone number to the air port. The bear by the name of Bluebelle Mulcahey, whose nickname by now had been widely known as "Teacher Bear," was searching through her phone book for cab services that could accommodate a large group for a reasonable price.

"Any luck yet Bluebelle?" Father Mulcahey asked his flustered friend as she slammed the receiver down on the telephone. "I'm afraid not. I've called four places and no luck yet," she said, taking a deep breath to help calm her nerves. "You would not believe the rude comment the last man I spoke made. I asked him for accommodations for a family of ten and told him about the seven cubs, and I'm not even going to repeat the comment he said about the process of reproduction! Some people are so rude!" By now, her chest was heaving.

Mrs. McBride and Father Mulcahey looked disgusted by the man's comment as they placed comforting hands upon the heaving bear's shoulders. "Where did you call Bluebelle?" Father Mulcahey asked. The bear skimmed through the page until she landed on the large ad featuring the name of the company. "Phillips Courteous Cab Services," she said in a disgusted tone, finding it ironic that the service called itself "courteous." Mrs. McBride looked at the ad with a smirk. "Oh dear. Stan Phillips is at it again!" she said as though she expected this. "Is he one of your revisiting visitors?" Teacher Bear asked, having a feeling that Mrs. McBride knew this wretch of a man all to well. "Indeed he is," she remarked in a nonchalant tone. "More than likely, this is one of his crazy money making schemes. With his low business ethic, he'll be out of business and back here in no time." Though she did not like thinking of people having to come back to the shelter, Teacher Bear could not help smiling about this rude man returning. "You should really show him a piece of your mind when he comes back Mrs. McBride," Teacher Bear said encouragingly.

The bear's encouragement struck an idea in the shelter keeper's mind as a bright smile gleamed across her face. "I can show him a piece of my mind right now, and probably get you and your family a good price on a ride to the airport!" she smiled. Both Teacher Bear and Father Mulcahey looked confused. "How can you do that?" Teacher Bear asked. "Well, if you'd like, I can call Stan back and let him know that you are a personal friend of mine," she said, remembering that she needed to ask Teacher Bear about doing things for her before doing them in order to avoid confrontation. "He knows I mean business! After all, I keep taking him in every time he hits bankruptcy." Teacher Bear smiled. "That would be great!" she remarked, hugging the shelter keeper. "While you do that, I'm going to go out and check on the kids." Mrs. McBride smiled enthusiastically as she picked up the phone and dialed the number that the ad provided.

Meanwhile outside the office, seven colorful baby animals were having a grand time discovering how to unzip suit cases and toss about their contents as their guardian was out of the room preparing for the long trip to their new home. An old Lebanese man by the name of Max Klinger was having a difficult time watching over the little cubs as they playfully romped around the mess.

"Oh no children!" she exclaimed as soon as she saw that they were playing in the suit cases, "We're packing now! You unpack when we get there!" The children looked up from their playing and smiled, babbling their feelings of excitement. Teacher Bear smiled back at them, knowing that they were just as excited to leave as she was. Despite this, she knew that she should not positively enforce this type of negative behavior. "Come on children. You've have enough fun with the suit cases for today," she said as she and Klinger began to pick them up and place them in the crib next to her former bed.

The children protested being picked up from the fun of the suitcases. "Tara Bea!" the pink skunk cub, Pretty Heart, protested as her guardian picked her up. "Now, now. You'll have plenty of time to unpack the suitcases after we get to Mr. Klinger's house," she said gently as she placed the cub in the crib. Klinger began to smile as he helped pick up the blue badger Passive Heart, and the yellow billygoat Hungry Heart. "I think she's just as anxious as we are, Teach," he said as he placed the two cubs in the crib. Teacher Bear nodded. "I'm not a teacher yet," she said with a hopeful smile, "but thanks to you and Francis, I'm well on my way."

Indeed the navy blue bear was well on her way financially thanks to the money that her late guardian, Mrs. Mulcahey, had left for her in her will, but she was still in the dark about how she was going to fit schooling into her schedule. After all, her children were still so small and she worried about their care. Plus the fact that the money could be used to help support the children.

Teacher Bear thought about this as she continued to collect up her children from their game of "unpack the suitcases." As she placed the fussy purple wolf cub, Curious Heart, in the crib, she noticed Mrs. McBride's shouting coming from the direction of the office. "If you ever want to be a part of this establishment again, Stan Phillips, you WILL treat these people with respect! Just remember, I can decline your sorry hide re-entrance at the drop of a hat!!"

A few moments later, Mrs. McBride left her office with a proud smile on her face as everyone in the dormitory cheered. "You have a ride to the air port, and according to Mr. Phillips, this one is on him,'" she said, beaming with contentment as the cheering died down.

From inside the office, Father Mulcahey poked his head out with the telephone propped up on his shoulder. "I've got the airport on the phone. Is the 11:30 afternoon flight alright with the rest of you?" he said, smiling at the bright faces he saw outside of the office. Peering at the clock, which showed the time as fifteen after eight in the morning, Teacher Bear nodded in excited agreement. "That will give us plenty of time to get ready," she said as her smiling friend returned to the office to finish making flight plans.

Teacher Bear smiled as she continued to retrieve the cubs from their suit case excursions. "Well Mrs. McBride," she said as she picked the green hedgehog, Grateful Heart, from a pile of receiving blankets, "before you know it, we'll be out of your hair." Mrs. McBride smiled at the thought of her friend's potential for success. "I'm so glad for you Teacher Bear," she said as she began to help pick up some of the mess the cubs had made. "I'll miss you, but I'm glad for you. This place will never be the same since you and your colorful family came through."

Teacher Bear blushed as she placed Grateful Heart in the crib to join his siblings. "There now," she said as she placed the one armed hedgehog cub in the crib so that she could do a quick head count. "Let's see, we have Grateful Heart, Curious Heart, Charity Heart, Hungry Heart…" "Maw Maw!" the little fox cub, Charity Heart, interrupted as she held out her stuffed cow that Father Mulcahey had given her. Teacher Bear laughed happily as she added Moo Moo the stuffed cow into the head count. "Moo Moo, Passive Heart, Pretty Heart… Oh my! Where is Thorough Heart?"

Teacher Bear spun around, worrying where the little orange weasel cub could be. She began to call out his name as she rooted through the mess from the suit cases. "Where are you Thorough Heart?" she called out as she opened one of the suit cases. Inside, the little orange weasel cub was examining a diaper, placing it on his head to see if that was where it went. Teacher Bear giggled as she picked him up. "That's not where your diaper goes," she cooed as she gently began removing the diaper off the weasel cub's head. "Ter Beet!" he gurgled as he began to make a mess in the diaper he had on his bottom. Teacher Bear let out a sigh as she finished removing the diaper from the cub's head. "That, my dear one, is where your diaper should go."

Chapter 2: Bored Without You

In a cottony cloud land high in the skies known as Care-A-Lot, a group of colorful bears and other animals made their home. One particular bear, an older gray bear that had been known as Grams Bear, lived with her two grandchildren in a quaint little house made entirely out of clouds. Her two grandchildren, bear cubs named Hugs Bear and Tugs Bear, were busy gathering some of their old toys to give to one of the newborn cubs of Care-A-Lot.

"Are you two all set to see your new friend Big Heart, my little darlings?" Grams Bear asked as she watched the cubs dash around their room collecting up some old toys that they wanted to share with the new baby. "Almost Grams!" exclaimed the baby blue boy cub, Tugs. "Oh goodie, goodie gosh! I want to bring my dolly along!" added the baby pink girl cub, Hugs. Tugs gave his sister a look of disgust. "Hugs! Boys don't play with dolls! Let's bring the soccer ball instead!" he said as he began kicking around the ball.

Grams quickly collected up the soccer ball and gave Tugs a stern look. "I think Big Heart is a little bit too little to be playing soccer, my little darling," she said as she put the ball back where it came from.

Hugs held her doll hopefully as she spoke to Grams Bear. "Is he too young to play dolly with me Grams?" Hugs asked, hugging her doll. Grams Bear smiled as she patted the little girl on the head. "He might not understand them yet, my little darling. He might want to chew on it." Hugs looked appalled at the thought of her doll being chewed on. "I don't want my dolly's head chewed off!" she said, hugging the doll close as though she were protecting it. "Now, now my little darling," Grams smiled, "babies chew on things to learn about them. As they get older, they learn more about how to use their hands."

The cubs looked confused. "You mean babies chew on stuff because that's how they figure stuff out and they don't know how to use their hands yet?" Tugs questioned, his face twisted up as he thought hard. Grams nodded at the confused little bear's questions. "Someday he'll learn," she smiled. "That is what is so wonderful about being young. You have so much time to learn new things. In the mean time, remember to pack larger objects. We don't want him to choke!"

Hugs and Tugs began digging around in the bag that they were preparing. "Is this too small Grams?" Tugs asked as he pulled out a miniature racing car. The old bear nodded as she took the car from her grandson. "Why don't you bring along something soft, like this old teddy bear? You don't play with him anymore, and he looks like he could use a new home," she suggested as she picked up a worn out bear from the toy box. Tugs smiled at the old teddy bear. "I remember him," he said enthusiastically. "He used to keep me company when I used to be afraid of the dark. Maybe we should give Big Heart the old night lamp too!" "That's an excellent idea Tugs," Grams said, praising the little cub for his good idea.

As the two bears rummaged through the closet in search of the night lamp, Hugs caught sight of an old plastic bucket and some large plastic blocks. "Grams? Do you think Big Heart would like these?" she asked, holding up the bucket full of blocks. "Those would be perfect for Big Heart," Grams responded with one of her characteristic grandmotherly smiles.

After a bit more rummaging through the closet and toy box, Grams and the two cubs had collected up the night lamp, Tugs's old teddy bear, Hugs's bucket of blocks, two soft baby pillows, a multi colored bouncy ball, a few old baby blankets, and an old baseball cap. "He's gonna love these!" Tugs exclaimed as he placed the last item in the bag. "I'm all too sure he will, my little darling," Grams said as she helped the cubs to the front door with the bag of hand me downs.

With each cub holding one end of the bag, they were finally ready to leave for their visit. The cubs waved good bye as they made their way out the door with their gifts. "Have fun over at Big Heart's house!" Grams waved to the cubs as they made their way down the rainbow roads toward Tender Heart Bear and Love-A-Lot Bear's house.

Once she saw that they had made it to their destination safely, Grams closed the front door with a bored sigh. "Hmmm," she thought to herself as she inched away from the door. "What should I do to keep myself busy while the cubs are gone?"

She began to pace around the living room, hoping that an idea would spring into her head. Ever since the new babies were born in Care-A-Lot, Hugs and Tugs went out more often on their own, leaving her with little to keep her mind busy. Her pacing turned into a walk to the kitchen as she continued to think of something to help occupy her time. As she paced about the kitchen, she happened to pass by her shelf full of recipe books. Looking at the shelf full of well worn books, she thought that perhaps she might bake something. After all, Grams Bear was well known for her skills in the kitchen! Pulling down one of her favorite Betty Crocker cookbooks, Grams began to page through it for something that would catch her attention. "Maybe some cookies," she thought, noticing a recipe for gingerbread cookies.

Dashing happily about the kitchen, she began to gather the ingredients that she would need for the recipe. She began to hum a merry tune as the table filled with all the essentials needed for baking her cookies. "There now," she said as she brought the last mixing bowls to the table and put on her apron. Now ready to bake, Grams gazed over the table full of things, hoping that this would improve her bored mood. But instead of making her feel better, the idea of dirtying up dishes all by herself had lost its appeal. "Baking gingerbread cookies is more fun when Hugs and Tugs are there to help me decorate them," she sighed as she began to put things away.

After she had put up the old cook book and all of her baking things away, Grams decided to leave the kitchen to see what else there was for her to do. Upon entering the living room, she caught sight of her old rocking chair and knitting basket. "Ah! There's something I can do!" she thought as she sat in her rocker to work on the afghan that she had started a few weeks earlier.

With the use of her tummy symbol, Grams had a fire going in the fire place in no time. Once she had gotten comfortable in her rocker, Grams began to knit. "Knit one, pearl two," she boringly sighed to herself as she knit the pink and blue yarn together. This too did not seem to suit her fancy. Putting her knitting needles back in their basket and Staring out the fire, Grams decided to take a look out the window to see if she could get some fresh ideas. Anything had to be better than this rut that she seemed to be in whenever the cubs left her alone.

Outside her window was a pleasant, sunny day. The clouds were a crisp white and the rainbow roads were bright and inviting. "Perhaps a walk is what I need," she thought to herself with a satisfactory smile. Taking her sun hat from the coat rack, Grams set out for a brisk walk through Care-A-Lot.

Chapter 3: Poor Customer Service

With the bags finally packed, all that was left was the wait for Phillips Courteous Cab Services to take the Mulcahey party to the airport. "So much for good customer service from this guy," Klinger remarked as he looked at the clock which read 9:47 am. "I agree," Father Mulcahey added. "Our flight is at 11:30 and the airport is half an hour away. Plus we'll need some time when we get there."

Teacher Bear sat down on one of the suit cases, remembering how rude the man had been to her earlier on the telephone. "I don't know how this man can keep going back into business," she said, looking at a hand on the clock move up another minute.

As they sat back to wait for their ride, they were greeted by the shelter's cook, Butler. "Ah, you haven't left yet!" he exclaimed as he carried a large parcel to the waiting group. "I wanted to give you these for the trip!" Teacher Bear thanked Butler as he unwrapped the parcel. "Ooooo!" Teacher Bear said as she took a whiff of the contents, Butler smiling as she did so. "Hope you all like home made granola bars!" he smiled as he gave Teacher Bear a pat on the back that knocked her out of her seat. "Oh! Sorry," he said as he picked Teacher Bear up to dust her off. "Quite alright," she smiled as she adjusted her glasses. "It's the thought that counts, and from the way these smell you thought a great deal of us."

As the commotion commenced inside, Stan Phillips pulled in front of the shelter in a large, hunter green van and honked his horn. "Well hello there," he said, an unconvincing cheesy smile pasted across his face. "Everybody ready for a trip to the airport?" Pretty Heart began to squirm at the sight of Mr. Phillips toothy grin. "Tara Bee," she squealed as the man came closer. "And who is this little one?" he continued, picking the pink skunk up. "WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Pretty Heart yelled out in panic. "I think she wants to be put down Mr. Phillips," Teacher Bear said in a stern tone. "Ah yes, you must be the one I spoke with on the phone earlier," Mr. Phillips remarked, twinges of dislike forming around the corners of his fake smile. "Yes," Teacher Bear said, taking the screaming cub from the rude driver, "and if you don't mind, we'd like to make our flight on time."

As though the winds had shifted, Mr. Phillips began bounding around the room picking up bags left and right. "We don't want to miss your flight, do we Miss Malhooney," he said in a sickeningly sweet tone. "It's pronounced 'Mulcahey,'" she replied flatly as she finished gathering up the cubs for the trip.

Before long, all the bags and passengers were squeezed into the large travel van. "Well folks," Mr. Phillips said, "wave your goodbyes before I close the door." Outside the van door, everyone at St. Anne's Homeless Shelter began to wave goodbye. The passengers in the van waved back as Mr. Phillips swiftly shut the door. As he made to go to his seat, Mrs. McBride grabbed hold of his arm. "If I hear one negative word, you're never coming back!" she scolded. "Me, misbehave?" Mr. Phillips said, flashing his cheesy toothy grin. Mrs. McBride rolled her eyes as she let his arm go. After all, her friends had a plane to catch!

Mr. Phillips bounded into the van, his toothy smile shining like an obnoxious streetlight. "Everybody buckled in?" he asked, trying to fake concern. "Yes!" Klinger yelled, having had enough of this man's bad service. "It's almost 10! Will you get yourself situated so we can go!" Sheepishly, Mr. Phillips buckled his safety belt and sped off for the airport.

Once they were out of the parking lot of St. Anne's, Mr. Phillips began to drive very fast. So fast in fact, that he was considered unlawfully speeding. "Um, excuse me," Father Mulcahey said as he nervously worked his Rosary beads, "but do you realize that the speed limit is 45 miles per hour?" "Sure do Father," Mr. Phillips smiled as he entered the highway going 80 miles per hour. "Look at it this way. We're making great time!"

As Mr. Phillips continued his dare devil highway driving, two state troopers on the side of the highway clocked him driving 106 mph. "Well someone isn't following the law," the one trooper said to his partner. "Let's have some fun, shall we," the other trooper said as he flicked on the red and blue police lights.

Mr. Phillips vehicle continued to speed up as they made their way down the highway. Teacher Bear had her eyes closed as the children screamed in terror. "Would you shut those kids up?" Mr. Phillips exclaimed as he weaved about between cars. "Perhaps if you didn't drive so recklessly, they wouldn't be so loud!" Teacher Bear yelled back over the sound of the wailing babies. Stan Phillips acted as though he did not hear the navy blue bear's complaints as he continued his reckless driving. "Just shut them up Miss Malkicky, and the drive will be much better for the rest of us." "It's 'Mulcahey!'" Teacher Bear screamed out in fear and frustration as the vehicle continued to accelerate.

Behind the hunter green van, the state troopers were in hot pursuit. "There's a cop car behind you!" Klinger shouted, screaming just as load as Teacher Bear. Stan Phillips looked into his rear view mirror to see that there was indeed a car with its lights on following him. "Don't worry folks," he smiled viciously, "we'll loose them!"

Swerving the car to the outer lane, Mr. Phillips made a run for it. "You're resisting arrest!" Father Mulcahey shouted, dropping his Rosary beads on the floor of the van. "I like to think of it as saving the tax payers their tax dollars," Mr. Phillips shouted back as he made his way off the highway.

The two troopers that had followed behind the "Phillips Courteous Cab" van swerved into the exit so that they could continue to follow their suspect. The passenger trooper began to radio information about the run away cab driver to some fellow units. "Suspect is resisting arrest. Repeat, suspect is resisting arrest. He is driving a hunter green van. License plate reads 'PCCAB5.' Repeat, license plate reads 'PCCAB5.'" "Copy that," another cop car responded. "Suspect is in our area. Preparing to set up a barricade. Repeat, setting up a barricade."

Mr. Phillips smiled as he drove along a side street. "We're loosing them folk!" he smiled maliciously. "Isn't this exciting! You won't get this much excitement from any other cab service in the world! I can guarantee it!" "You won't get our service again!" Teacher Bear screamed out. "I can guarantee that!" Mr. Phillips shrugged off her comments as he made a sharp turn down another street. What Mr. Phillips did not expect was to see a barricade of police cars waiting for him. "Aw nuts!" he shouted as he slammed on his brakes, nearly missing the row of police cars. Two other cars pulled in behind the van, leaving Phillips and his party trapped. Putting back on his flashy smile, Mr. Phillips rolled down his window. "Is there a problem officer?" he smiled. The cop smiled back at the cab service driver. "Stan Phillips. What a pleasant surprise. Step out of the car please. You're under arrest." The three adult passenger's jaws dropped at the word "arrest." "On what charges?" Mr. Phillips said, his cheesy smile replaced by a sour grimace. "Resisting arrest for one," the police officer explained, "and also this warrant we've had for your arrest for scheming, extortion, and fraud, just to name a few. You are a foolish man, Stan Phillips."

As they watched their driver being handcuffed, Father Mulcahey began wondering how they were ever going to get to the airport in time. "Excuse me officer," the priest shouted out the window. "We are in despite need to get to the airport before we miss our flight. Could one of you perhaps take us there?" Some of the cops began to look at each other. "I'll drive ya," one of the police officers said. "Besides, I'll need to take this hunk of junk to the compound anyway. I don't think Phillips Courteous Cab Services will be doing any more business."

Chapter 4: Down With Dish

Though conditions were perfect for an afternoon stroll through Care-A-Lot, the walk was not helping improve Grams Bear's bored disposition. "What on earth has gotten into me lately?" she though to herself as she stared down at the rainbow road beneath her feet. She could not understand why she always seemed to feel so bored whenever she was without Hugs and Tugs.

As Grams Bear continued to walk, she could see that something was happening on the roof of the Hall of Hearts. High on the roof, Grumpy Bear, Brave Heart Lion, Lotsa Heart Elephant, Playful Heart Monkey, Champ Bear, and a group of star and heart buddies were lifting a large heart shaped satellite dish tied with lifting ropes. Down on the ground, Bright Heart Raccoon, Funshine Bear, Share Bear, Cheer Bear, and the two cubs Strategy Bear and Showbiz Bear stood watching the commotion. Waving to the group on the ground, Grams asked what the satellite dish was for. "It's for the Rainbow Rescue Beam," explained Bright Heart in a mater of fact tone, showing Grams his complicated design sheet. "What does it all mean?" she asked, tilting her head sideways as she gazed at the sheet. "It'll help us to pin point landings far more accurately rather than depend upon fate," Bright Heart said proudly as he rolled the plans back up.

As he spoke, the five family members and the group of stars and hearts on the roof began to waver a bit. "A little more to the right you guys," shouted Bright Heart to the group on the roof. "We're doing the best we can Bright Heart, and that's the truth!" Lotsa Heart huffed as he and his friends continued to bring the dish higher and higher. The two cubs giggled as they watched the satellite pulling. "Dada!" Showbiz Bear exclaimed as she watched her father pull. "That's right Showbiz," Cheer smiled as her yellow daughter began to wave. "That's your daddy up there." Champ smiled at his wife and child as they waved up at him. "Hiya little sports fan!" Champ called down to his daughter, taking a break from holding his rope to wave back.

Clearly Champ Bear hadn't thought out his actions completely, because as soon as he lost concentration on lifting the satellite, the other family members began to loose control of their grips. "Champ!" Brave Heart screamed as his rope began to sway violently. "Grab hold of your side!" Realizing his error, Champ tried to steady his side by pulling very hard on his rope.

The star and heart buddies rushed around, trying to correct the tan bear's mistake. "Champ!" Grumpy screamed as he began to loose his footing, "Don't pull so hard!" Champ did his best to stabilize his rope, but his best wasn't good enough. "Champ!!!!!" Grumpy screamed as he began to slide off the roof of the Hall of Hearts.

The star buddies rushed to Grumpy's aid, but were not strong enough to prevent him from sliding. "I'm sorry!" Champ grunted as he pulled on his rope. "I'm sure he's sorry too for putting you on lift duty!" Playful Heart added sarcastically as he pulled harder on his rope.

Luckily for Grumpy, he still had a hold on his rope. "Oh, why do these things always happen to me!" he cried as dangled helplessly from the roof.

Share Bear looked up at her husband, frightened that he might fall. "What are we going to do Bright Heart?" she asked, turning to the purple raccoon in a panic as Grumpy continued dangle. "Papa!" Strategy Bear giggled as she watched her father dangling from the rope. "HELP!" Grumpy screamed, looking down at the long drop as the star and heart buddies whizzed around in panic. "Don't you let go up there!"

Champ, Playful Heart, Lotsa Heart and Brave Heart struggled to keep a hold onto their ropes. "I can't hold on much longer!" Playful Heart exclaimed as he wrapped his tail around his rope. "Keep trying, sports fan!" Champ said, trying to give his friend some encouragement as the stars and hearts grabbed hold of them to help.

As the rest of the bears stood on the ground helplessly, Grams Bear got an idea. "Hold on my little darling," she exclaimed, Staring a large rose shaped balloon and sending it up to Grumpy. "Grab on!" she shouted as the balloon floated toward the helpless blue bear.

Seeing his opportunity for rescue, Grumpy quickly grabbed onto the balloon. As he began to slowly descend to the ground, the roof crew was having even more problems. Since Grumpy had let go of the rope, the weight had shifted on the satellite dish once again, causing the four family members and the stars and hearts to loose their footing. "It's gonna fall, and that's the truth!" Lotsa Heart shouted as he and his friends began to loose their strength. "Look out below!" Playful Heart exclaimed as the satellite dish began to fall. Grumpy looked up as he landed gently on the clouds. "Oh no!" he shouted, ducking and covering his head as the dish made its decent upon him.

Everyone stood still as they watched the dish fall on Grumpy Bear. The satellite landed with a hollow thud, its hollow side facing the clouds with Grumpy underneath it. The roof crew slowly made their way down some ladders to see if Grumpy was alright. "Grumpy?" Share asked apprehensively, knocking on the upturned dish, "Are you okay in there?" "Yes! Get me out of here!" he yelled back. With sighs of relief, everyone began to cheer, knowing that Grumpy Bear was okay. From inside the satellite Grumpy began to shout angrily, "Quit standing around cheering and help me!"

Everyone grabbed the edges of the dish and began to pull it up. As they lifted, Grams Bear could feel her back begin to give out. "Are you okay Grams Bear?" Lotsa Heart asked when he saw Grams's painful expression on her face. "My back hurts a little bit," she answered weakly. "Why don't you sit this one out. We can handle it, and that's the truth," he explained, taking over her spot. Letting go of the dish, Grams sank back helplessly and watched as the others were able to flip the dish over to free Grumpy. As soon as he was free from the dish, Grumpy gave one of his typical angry looks at Grams. "Thanks a lot Grams Bear!" he pouted. "You almost got me smashed!" Grams sank back, her eyes beginning to tear up. Champ threw a comforting arm around the old bear. "It's not her fault Grumpy Bear," he said. "She was just trying to help." "She wouldn't have had to help if you hadn't been goofing off!" Grumpy retorted, leaving Champ stumped for a response. "You're right sports fan," he said, drooping his head in shame. "If I had been paying attention instead of showing off for Showbiz Bear, none of this would have happened."

Seeing how sorry Champ really was for causing the fiasco, Grumpy began to lighten up. "It's okay," he said, smiling a bit. "Sometimes I show off for Strategy Bear when I'm not supposed to." Share Bear smiled as she stood next to her husband. "You certainly do, Grumpy Bear. Especially during dinner time!" she said jokingly. "I can not tell you how many times I have had to clean up spaghetti from the floor after Grumpy tries showing off funny ways to eat it!"

As everyone watched the tender moment, Bright Heart Raccoon sat examining a few dings in the satellite dish. "Hey Grumpy," he called out, waving out to his friend to take a look. "Looks like the dish didn't have as good of a landing as you did." Taking a look for himself, Grumpy noticed that the receiver in the middle of the dish had sustained some damages. "Looks like we'd better take it to the shop for repairs," he said, pointing out some of the major damages due to the crash.

Just as Grumpy began to explain his case, the Caring Meter began to moan loudly. Everyone perked their heads up at the sound. Near the Caring Meter stood Wish Bear, peering through her star-o-scope. The satellite crew quickly dashed up to her to see what was going on. "What seems to be the trouble, Wish Bear?" Bright Heart asked. Wish peered through the star-o-scope once more. "It looks to me like a little boy from Cape Girardeau just ran out of a library! His mother is calling out to him, but he just keeps running!" she explained, her face riddled with worry.

Over hearing the conversation, Grams Bear decided to see if she could be of service. "Is there any need for a Caring Mission?" she asked enthusiastically. "I'm afraid so," Wish said, still staring hopelessly through the star-o-scope. Suddenly, Bright Heart smiled as the thought of the building that the boy had run from. "You say he ran out of a library?" he asked Wish, a lilt of confidence in his voice. The bear with the star-o-scope pressed against her eye nodded as she continued to watch the commotion down on earth. "Then why don't I go down there to help him out!" Bright Heart smiled, thinking of the opportunity he would have to help the young boy discover the joy of reading. "And what about the satellite?" Grumpy added, pointing to the dinged dish. "Why don't you take it to the shop to fix it while I'm gone," he replied, feeling as though things were working themselves out already.

Funshine pat Bright Heart on the back. "Why don't I come with you!" she added. "I love going to the library, and I'd love to show him just how much fun the library has to offer aside from books!" "Like what?" questioned Bright Heart. "Well, there's computers, and you can rent movies and music and comic books and stuff," she said with a smile.

Seeing the opportunity to break her monotony, Grams decided to add herself to the volunteer roster. "Why don't I join the two of you. I know plenty of wonderful stories that might just cheer the little darling up," she smiled. Bright Heart and Funshine looked at the old bear in disbelief. "Um, no offence Grams Bear," Funshine began, "but hasn't it been a while since you've been on a Caring Mission?" "Well, yes," Grams admitted, "but that doesn't mean that I can't do it!" The bear and raccoon looked to each other for answers, but were quickly interrupted by Wish Bear. "Oh no!" she screamed, nearly dropping her star-o-scope. "He almost got hit by a car! You two had better get down there quick to help him!"

Feeding off of Wish Bear's urgency, Bright Heart and Funshine quickly summoned a cloud car. "Sorry Grams Bear," Bright Heart said as he hopped into the driver's seat. "We're in a hurry to get down there and help that little boy. Maybe next time." With that, he and Funshine took of to help the run away boy. Grams weakly waved a farewell as the two friends drove away.

As Bright Heart and Funshine disappeared from sight, the group made their way back to the fallen dish. "We'd better get this back to the shop," Grumpy said, taking charge of the situation. "How are we gonna do that sports fan?" Champ asked, not looking forward to carrying it with his friends.

As he looked at the damaged object, Grumpy got a playful look on his face. "I'll tell you what we'll do," he smiled as he picked up his periwinkle daughter, Strategy Bear. "We'll put the little ones inside, and we'll take them for a ride to the shop!" Strategy Bear laughed out loud as her father placed her in the upturned dish. "Oooo! That looks like fun, doesn't it Showbiz," Cheer said as she placed her own daughter in the dish. "What do ya say guys and gals?" spouted Grumpy cheerfully. "You want to help the girls go for a ride to the shop?"

Seeing the joy on the children's faces at the situation, everyone seized the opportunity to help out. As the family members gathered around the dish, Lotsa Heart took note of Grams trying to help again. "Perhaps you should sit this one out too Grams Bear," he said. "You don't want to hurt your back again, and that's the truth." Grumpy nodded in agreement. "Besides, once we get it to the shop we'll have to fix it, and the plans are a bit too complicated for you to understand."

Grams slowly backed away from the dish. "Okay," she sighed, "perhaps you're right." Playful Heart gave her a sweet smile. "Don't worry Grams Bear," he said, "I don't understand the plans either and I'm not nearly as old as you are." "Well," she said weakly to the crowd, "maybe I can find something an old timer like me can do somewhere else." Sighing once more, she began to slowly walk away as the rest of the party began pushing the dish containing the laughing babies.

Chapter 5: Welcome to Lambert Airport

"This is your captain speaking. Please be sure to fasten your seat belts, for we will soon be making our decent at Lambert Airport," the pilot said as the "fasten seat belt" sign came on. Seated toward the back of the plane, a navy blue bear and company were delighted at the thought of landing. "Boy," said Klinger as he fastened his safety belt, "this flying stuff is for the birds, not for baby animals!" The people seated near them seemed to agree with this statement. Throughout most of the flight the cubs had been disturbing them, especially when Passive Heart became airsick.

Seated closest to the window, Teacher Bear began to put the tray table into its upright and locked position. This was proving to be more difficult than she had anticipated due to having two cubs on her lap. "Tetur Bar!" Grateful Heart exclaimed as he pointed at the window. "Pitty!" Pretty Heart chimed in as she and her brother tried to look out the airplane window. "Yes, my dear ones, it is lovely, isn't it," she said in response to their amazement, "but we need to get our seat belts on so that we can get off the airplane." As she buckled the protesting cubs into their seat, the stewardess stopped by to see if she could be of assistance. "Do you need any help buckling the children in Miss?" she asked when she saw Teacher Bear having difficulty with the cubs. The bear graciously nodded as she and the stewardess belted down the cubs.

After thanking the stewardess, Teacher Bear buckled her own seat belt. "Well, this has certainly been a chore," she said as she settled down in her chair. "Indeed it has Bluebelle," agreed Father Mulcahey as he buckled himself in. "But it will be good to see sis again, this time on a more joyous occasion." Teacher Bear nodded thankfully as the plane began its decent toward Saint Louis, Missouri.

Meanwhile, three nuns sat near the arrival port where the plane would be landing. The Mother Superior, Sister Angelica, and her followers, Sister Sarah and Sister Bridey, were anxiously awaiting the arrival of their guests. Sister Angelica had told the two nuns so much about the colorful cubs that would be arriving that they were on the edge of their seats in anticipation. They had even brought a plate of cookies to welcome their weary guests.

"Mother Superior," the youngest nun, Sister Sarah asked, "what were all of the animals' names?" Sister Angelica scratched her wrinkled chin as she thought. "Hmmm… well, Bluebelle is my friend the bear, and the cubs, well; I remember one of them was a yellow billygoat named Hungry Heart. He was the one who used my shoulder as a tissue during the wake. My brother, Francis's favorite child was a red fox named Charity Heart. She was the one who had Francis bless the stuffed cow that he had given her during the funeral mass." The sisters giggled at the thought of a child wanting a stuffed animal blessed. "Do tell us more Mother Superior," Sister Bridey persisted. "Well sisters," Sister Angelica said, "I'm afraid I do not remember all of the children's names. I was only gone a short while. But don't worry, you will soon meet them."

As the sisters had continued their excited chatter, an announcement was made over the loud speaker of the arrival of flight 221 from Philadelphia International Airport. "They're here!" exclaimed the three nuns in unison as they watched the airplane pull up to the building. The nuns began to clamber around the entrance portal waiting for the arrival of their guests. "Oh, Mother Superior, I can't wait to see your darling little friends," Sister Sarah smiled as she gazed down the exit ramp.

Before long, people began to emerge from the aircraft. As the plane slowly emptied, the Mulcahey party was able to make their way out. "There they are!" Sister Sarah exclaimed, pointing out to the large group of colorful travelers. "Well, hello up there!" Father Mulcahey shouted out warmly as he, Klinger, and Teacher Bear walked up the isle with the cubs.

Soon, everyone met in a warm embrace. "How was your trip, Francis?" Sister Angelica asked as she gave her brother a hug. "Well, it was quite an experience. Let's just say that I'll be glad to get home," he smiled as he hugged his sister.

The other two nuns were going wild over the cubs. "What unique children!" Sister Bridey said as she picked up the giggling Pretty Heart. Teacher Bear nodded as she began to tell them a little bit about the cubs. "Oh, this poor little one has lost part of his arm," Sister Sarah said as she kissed little Grateful Heart on the forehead. "That he did," Teacher Bear said, "but it was because of him that the family became what it is." "Oh please tell us more," Sister Sarah exclaimed. It was clear that the two nuns were quite excited by the prospect of hearing the family's story. "Bluebelle dear, perhaps you could tell us on the trip down to River Bend. We should be getting to your luggage," Sister Angelica explained. Everyone agreed as they made their way toward the luggage carousel.

The cubs gazed in amazement at the sight of the slowly spinning luggage carousel. "Hey kids. How do ya like that?" Klinger said as he watched the children's amazement. "Keke," Curious Heart responded, pointing at the large luggage device. "Yeah little guy, it really is amazing," Klinger smiled, patting the perplexed purple wolf cub on the head.

"Oh Klinger, sis and I are going to go get the van and bring it around," Father Mulcahey explained. "Would you mind keeping an eye on the children while we're gone?" "No problem, Padre. These kids should be no trouble at all," he responded, pointing out Curious Heart's affixation on the carousel. As the two siblings began to leave for the exit, a little voice could be heard calling for them. "Fanci!" Charity Heart cried out, holding her arms out for the old chaplain. "Would you like to come with us Charity Heart?" Father Mulcahey sweetly asked the fox cub, already knowing the answer. Delighted to be picked up, Charity Heart accompanied Father Mulcahey and Sister Angelica to the van. "I do believe she's taken a shine to you Francis," Sister Angelica smiled as she watched her brother and the fox cub being happy together.

Curious Heart continued to stare in awe at the spinning contraption as a few of his guardians and sister left for the exit. "Why don't we get some luggage carts?" Sister Bridey suggested as she watched people begin to gather their belongings. Everyone nodded in agreement as the nuns went to get a few luggage carts with Teacher Bear.

"You are so lucky Miss Mulcahey," Sister Sarah said as she held Pretty Heart high above her head. "These little ones are too precious!" Teacher Bear smiled as she put a dollar in the cart rental machine. "Indeed I am," she said as she pulled a cart out, "but I can't help worrying about their financial future. I mean, I really want to go back to school, but I don't know if I should. I don't want to deprive the children."

Sister Bridey looked at the little blue bear as she gazed at the floor, lost in thought. "May I ask what you are wanting to go to school for?" she asked as she put her own dollar in the cart machine. "Teaching," the bear responded. "Ever since I was a child, I wanted to be a teacher just like Mrs. Mulcahey, but she ended up having a heart attach just as I was about to head off to college. Money was tight and Mrs. Mulcahey needed someone there to help take care of her, so I held off on my dream of going to school. She ended up leaving me some money in her will for me to go back and get my education, but I just don't know if I should do this right now. The children might benefit more from the money than I would, but then again they might benefit more if I had a steady paying job. I just don't know what to do."

The two sisters knelt down to the bear's level. "I can tell that you are a caring person," Sister Bridey said, "and I wish I could give you a comforting answer. Perhaps you can look more into it when we get to Mr. Klinger's house." Teacher Bear looked up from the floor and thanked the nun with an appreciative smile. "That's what we're here for," Sister Sarah added, handing Pretty Heart to Teacher Bear so that she could pull out another cart.

Just as Teacher Bear and the two nuns had gotten their carts, Klinger dashed up to them holding Hungry Heart, Thorough Heart, Grateful Heart, and Passive Heart. "Hey, you don't by any chance know where Curious Heart went off to, do ya?" he asked, taking a few deep breaths. "I thought you were watching him?" Teacher Bear said, taking a few of the cubs from Klinger and placing them on the carts. "I was, but next thing I know he was gone!" he exclaimed. "Oh my word! Klinger, my child is lost again!" Teacher Bear screamed, remembering the last time Curious Heart had gotten lost in the funeral home and how he had flooded a toilet in the bathroom. "Don't worry," Klinger added desperately. "He couldn't have gotten far."

Klinger had been right, but not in a way that pleased the worried bear. Before long, sounds of commotion were coming from the luggage carousel. "What is that thing doing on my suitcase?!?" a woman shouted. As the woman's suit case made its way around, Curious Heart could be seen happily riding on it. "My luggage!" the woman screamed to a nearby security guard. "My baby!" Teacher Bear screamed as she ran up to the joy riding cub.

Curious Heart wailed as Teacher Bear pulled him off of the woman's suit case. "This is no place for you to be playing!" Teacher Bear scolded. "Tatab!" Curious Heart protested, pointing to the carousel as though he wanted to get back on. "You can complain until you're blue in the face, but you are not going back on that luggage carousel!" The little wolf cub began to cry his eyes out as Teacher Bear took him away from the whirling luggage. As she did so, Father Mulcahey, Sister Angelica, and Charity Heart retuned from bringing the van closer. "What happened Bluebelle?" Sister Angelica said as she watched the cub cry. "Curious Heart decided to take a joy ride on the luggage carousel," Teacher Bear said in a flustered tone. "Oh dear!" Father Mulcahey added, knowing what a dangerous thing that can be. "Perhaps you should wait out in the van with the children while we get your bags," he added hopefully as Charity Heart squirmed happily in his arms. "That's a good idea," agreed Teacher Bear. "This way, we don't have anymore unexpected adventures!"

Chapter 6: A Walk in the Woods

The Rainbow River had never looked lovelier as rainbow fish danced along the shores of the Forest of Feelings. Birds sang brightly in the colorful trees, whose flowers filled the air with sweet smells. Star and heart buddies danced merrily through the air to the tunes of the forest song birds. This was indeed a picturesque sight to behold, but for an old bear lost in boredom, it is nothing more than something pretty to look at. As fate would have it, Grams Bear had made her way absent mindedly to the Forest of Feelings in hopes of easing her perpetual boredom.

As she approached the peaceful river, Grams decided to take a break from her mindless walking and place her tired feet into the swirling water. As she stared at her distorted reflection in the water, she began to think more about how she was feeling and what the answer might be to make her feel better. "I don't get it," she thought to herself. "Why do I never know what to do with myself whenever Hugs and Tugs are away from me?"

Further upstream, Swift Heart Rabbit was floating down the river in an inner tube reading a magazine. As he turned a page, he noticed Grams sitting on the banks. "Ahoy there Grams Bear!" he waved. "Whachya doin' out here?" "Hello Swift Heart," Grams said flatly, not lifting her head to meet eyes with the blue rabbit.

Feeling as though something might be wrong, Swift Heart Called himself a rope to tie to his inner tube. Lassoing the rope to a nearby tree, Swift Heart made his way over to the bank to join Grams. "Is something wrong Grams Bear?" he asked as he took a seat next to the old bear. "I guess so," Grams said lazily to the blue bunny. "You see, it seems like whenever I'm away from Hugs and Tugs, I get the strangest feeling." Swift Heart scratched his head. "What sort of feeling?" he asked. "Well, it's hard to describe," the old bear began. "It's like all of the sudden I feel empty inside, like something is missing. After that, I start to get really bored and can't seem to find anything to occupy my time."

Snapping his fingers, Swift Heart seemed to know exactly what the problem was. "Empty nest syndrome!" he exclaimed. "What is that?" Grams asked. "It's when you feel lonely after your kids are away from you," Swift Heart explained, feeling rather proud of his knowledgeable answer.

Grams had never heard of this, but she knew all too well how she felt. "Where did you find out about this 'empty nest syndrome,'" she asked. "From a magazine," Swift Heart smiled, handing Grams the magazine he had been reading. "I learn lots of things from magazines, and whenever I get real bored I pick one up and start reading."

Grams picked up the magazine that Swift Heart was reading. "Strangely, I don't think 'Better Homes and Gardens' is going to get me out of my rut," Grams sighed. "Maybe not," he thought as he skimmed through the glossary near the front, "but I bet a little project would. I'm looking for something new to build, and I bet if you gave me a hand you'll feel a lot better!"

The old bear smiled appreciatively at the eager bunny. "You know," she said, "that does sound nice. It will be good to be useful for more than just a babysitter for the cubs. Not that I don't mind watching after Hugs and Tugs, but being useful for something different sounds really nice."

Helping Grams get to her feet, the bear and the bunny made their way to Swift Heart's rabbit hole to look for a project.

Chapter 7: Semi-Invited Guests

"Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side. Keep on the sunny side of life!" sang the van full of travelers. Since the cubs were wide awake and there was nothing good on the radio, a group sing-a-long had become the ideal way to pass the time. "You will feel no pain as we drive y'all insane, if you keep on the sunny side of life! Yeah!" The group full of passengers began to laugh once more as another song ended. "Do you know any more Mother Superior?" Sister Sarah giggled. "Sister Sarah, I'm surprised you don't know these songs," Sister Angelica said. "What did you do as a child on road trips?" "Well," she said, "I usually just read books. Besides, we never really sang songs like this when I was growing up."

As the van pulled up to a stoplight, Klinger took another look at the map. "Turn right at Brindle Dr., Sister, and keep going 'til you reach a green house," he said as he pointed to the map. "And while you're at it," he added musically, "you outta be in pictures…" "Wa, wa." Father Mulcahey playfully added as the van full of passengers began a rendition of "You Outta Be in Pictures." "You're beautiful to see, wa, wa, wa…"

Just outside that little green house sat a little old Korean woman. The woman, Max Klinger's wife Soon Lee, sat rocking on the porch swing with a platter full of cookies. Soon Lee could not make the trip out to Pennsylvania because of her bad back, so she thought it would be nice if she could at least greet her husband, her friend the priest, and his sister back with a treat. As she looked down at her watch, she began to wonder where they could be. "They should be here some time soon," she said to herself as she helped herself to a cookie.

As Soon Lee sat back in the porch swing to further enjoy her cookie, she began to hear the honking of an automobile coming down the street. Before she knew it, a van full of people made its way to the drive way. The van honked out a playful melody as it pulled into the driveway of 10930 Brindle Dr. "Hiya honey!" Klinger shouted out the window. "We're home!"

Soon Lee made her way down the steps of the porch to greet her husband and friends. "What took you so long?" Soon Lee teased as she gave her husband a kiss through the window. Just as she finished kissing her husband, Soon Lee took notice of the colorful additions to the vehicle. Rubbing her eyes, Soon Lee took another look at the colorful passengers. "What are those?" she asked Klinger, pointing right at Teacher Bear. "I'm a friend of the family," Teacher Bear said in a rather offended tone. "My name is Bluebelle, and these are my children. I adopted them during the bad storm."

Soon Lee stood in a daze. "Nice to meet you," she said distantly, still trying to take in the spectacle before her. "Likewise," Teacher Bear said, trying to change the subject. "I must say, you have a very nice house." Soon Lee shook herself a bit to help her pay attention. She found it hard to believe that she was talking to a little blue bear. "Yes, Max and I have a very nice house," she said as she helped open the van door. "Won't you come in for some coffee or something? You do drink coffee, don't you?" Teacher Bear nodded uncomfortably as she began to unload the children.

The younger sisters volunteered to unload the baggage as the rest of the party went inside to enjoy their treats. Soon Lee put on a fresh pot of coffee as the group helped themselves to cookies. "These are very tasty oatmeal cookies Mrs. Klinger," Teacher Bear complimented. "Thank you," Soon Lee said as she poured a cup of coffee for the bear. "I replaced the raisins with dried cranberries." "Is that what those are?" Teacher Bear smiled, looking at the cookie with amazement. "How very clever. I never would have thought to try that." Soon Lee smiled as she took a sip of her coffee, glad to see that the bear was kindly despite her oddness. "Your children seem to have healthy appetites," she said as she watched the children gum on cookie after cookie. "That they do, especially for the chocolate chip ones," she smiled. "With all that they are eating they'll need a nap soon. Where shall I lay them down?"

Soon Lee looked surprised at the thought of laying the children to rest in her house. "I'm not prepared for this," she admitted, a bit flustered by the request. "That's okay honey," Klinger smiled. "We can get the crib out in the basement and set 'em up in the guest bedroom. Padre, can you give me a hand with the crib?" Soon Lee sighed with relief as her husband and friend got up from their chairs. "What would I do without you and your smarts Max?" she smiled. "Beats me babe," Klinger smiled back, giving his wife a kiss on the cheek as he made his way down to the basement.

Within minutes, the crib had been uncovered from a dusty corner of the basement. The two men sneezed heavily as they brought the old wooden crib upstairs. "It needs a good wipe down," Klinger said as he blew dust from his nose, "but it'll do." Soon Lee found a box in the basement that had a fresh crib mattress. "We haven't used these since our grand kids were babies," she explained as she laid it in the bottom of the crib and covered it with old crib sheets. "It will do just fine, thank you," Teacher Bear said as she and the nuns dusted the crib with moist rags. By the time the crib was in shape, the cubs were fussing and ready for a nap.

Once the cubs were settling down to sleep, the adults made their way to the kitchen so that the cubs could rest peacefully. "Thank you again for the use of your old crib," Teacher Bear said as she made her way to out of the spare room. "Our pleasure Teach," Klinger smiled as he closed the door just enough so that they could hear if the children needed them.

Everyone settled back to the kitchen table to finish their snacks. "You have such a lovely house Mrs. Klinger," Teacher Bear said as she took a sip of her coffee. "Max and I worked a lot to get it," Soon Lee said proudly. "We just finished paying the mortgage about a year ago." Klinger smiled along with his wife. "Yep, this place is now our official property. No more bank payments, no more house payments." "That's wonderful. Congratulations to the both of you," Teacher Bear smiled. "Mrs. Mulcahey was very happy when she had made her last house payment. It was very hard on her to do, but it's always a nice feeling when it's all done."

"Where exactly do you come from?" Soon Lee asked, changing the subject a bit. "I came from Philadelphia," the little bear answered. "Francis, Katherine, and Mrs. Mulcahey raised me from when I was no bigger than the cubs in the crib." "Is that so," Soon Lee said curiously. "Max told me what happened with the storm. I'm sorry you lost your loved one. I've never lost family members due to bad weather, but I lost some family in the Korean War." "How sad," Teacher Bear said, remembering how frightening it was when Father Mulcahey went to fight in the Korean War. "Don't worry," Soon Lee smiled, "that's how I met Max. He stayed behind when the war ended for three months until we found my parents and brother. After that, we went to Toledo where Max's family lives. Shortly after that, we moved here so that we could both get good jobs at the hospital thanks to Colonel Potter and Father Mulcahey. They really helped us out, because we didn't have very much money at all, and by then we had a baby on the way." "That sounds a lot like my situation now," Teacher Bear smiled, happy that she and Mrs. Klinger had something in common. "I was so grateful that you and Klinger opened your home to me and my children to help us in our time of need."

Soon Lee spat her drink in disbelief. "We did what!?!" she shouted. "Now calm down honey," Klinger said, putting his arm around his wife. "Don't you tell me to calm down Max!" Soon Lee shouted. "Why did you tell this gypsy bear that she could stay here? I didn't say she could! Why do you always spring these surprises on me? You never tell me about these things! This weird little family is not staying under this roof!!!"

Teacher Bear felt completely helpless. She had traveled all this way only to find out that she was unwelcome. "Now just a minute Soon Lee!" Klinger shouted, becoming very angry at his wife. "You and I have had to depend on the kindness of strangers before. Why should we close our door just because you feel a little inconvenienced?" "That's not the point!" Soon Lee screamed, waking the children in the guest bedroom. "I didn't even know about this! Why should I let them stay when I don't even know they were coming?"

Teacher Bear walked to the guest bedroom and closed the door on the screaming couple. "What are we going to do now, my little dear ones?" she began to cry as she went to tend on her children.

Chapter 8: Take a Look, It's in a Book

"There he is Bright Heart!" Funshine Bear said, pointing out the location of the boy who had run out of the library. Bright Heart landed the cloud car next to the boy, who was very surprised to see them. "Who are you?" he asked as the cloud car dissipated. "I'm Bright Heart Raccoon," the driver said. "And I'm Funshine Bear," the passenger added. "We're here to help you!"

The boy crossed his arms obstinately. "I'm Jimmy, and I don't need any help," he said, turning away from the bear and raccoon. "But you almost got hit by a car!" Bright Heart said, placing a paw of concern on the boy's shoulder. "How did you know I almost got hit?" the boy said, his posture becoming more receptive for conversation. "We saw you from up in the clouds," Funshine said, approaching the boy hopefully. "We saw you running out of the library, and we decided to help you out."

The boy once again became defensive. "I hate the library!" he began to shout. "Mom's always trying to get me to go there, and it's so boring!" "What do you find so boring about the library Jimmy?" Bright Heart asked, hoping to get some ideas from what Jimmy had to say. "There's nothing to do!" he shouted, not giving Bright Heart anything to work with.

Funshine could see Bright Heart struggling, so she decided to see what she could get out of Jimmy. "What do you like to do Jimmy?" she asked, hoping that the change of subject could aid in picking out something good at the library. "Well," Jimmy said, thinking a bit, "I like to watch movies, and read comic books, and play baseball." "Is that so?" she asked. "Who is your favorite baseball player?" "Ozzie Smith!" he said, excited to see that they weren't talking about boring old books anymore. "He's really amazing!" "I agree. He's a great baseball player!" Funshine smiled. "I like to watch him do back flips in the outfield where I come from. Did you know that he's in a movie?" "No," Jimmy said, amazed at the little yellow bear's knowledge of his favorite baseball player. "I bet we can find that movie at the library," Funshine smiled. "In fact, I bet we can find lots of great movies at the library. You'll be able to rent them for free!"

Jimmy was rather skeptical at this point. "I can rent free movies at the library?" he asked skeptically. "Sure," Bright Heart chimed in. "In fact, you can rent all sorts of neat things at the library, and their all free!"

Jimmy looked over the bear and raccoon, whose faces looked excited to go into the dusty old library. "Okay," he said reluctantly, "but I don't know if I'll like it."

*****

"My goodness Swift Heart! You certainly do have quite a library of magazines," Grams Bear said as she searched for another magazine from the rabbit's book shelf. "Yup!" Swift Heart said as he thumbed through a National Geographic. "Sometimes, I just don't know when to throw stuff away."

Pulling an issue of Time Magazine from the shelves, Grams sat back down to see if it would give her some ideas. She had already looked through dozens of magazines already and was beginning to get discouraged.

"This'll interest Bright Heart when he gets back from his mission," Swift Heart said as he peeked his head over his magazine. "What's that?" Grams said, hoping that this too would give her an idea. "It's an article about rainbows," he said. "There's illustrations, diagrams and everything. I bet this'll help with the rainbow rescue beam."

Grams nodded absentmindedly as she continued to turn the pages of her magazine. It wasn't that she didn't think it kind of Swift Heart to save the article for Bright Heart, but she just wasn't getting as much as she thought she would out of this session of magazine browsing. "Swift Heart," she said as she closed the issue of Time, "how long does it usually take for you to get ideas from your magazines?" "Hmmm," Swift Heart thought, scratching his right ear in thought. "Well, sometimes the idea hits me right away, and other times it takes a while. My record is three weeks with no fresh ideas, so don't get discouraged. Besides, sometimes the ads give me the ideas better than the articles do."

Grams hadn't thought about the ads. Almost every time she turned to an ad, she thought nothing of them. "You might have a point," she said as she paged through an issue of Car and Driver Magazine. This one was very different from the previous magazine she had looked at, not only in content but in advertising. In fact, the first ad she turned to featured a scantily clothed woman washing a car. Grams quickly turned the page so that she would no longer have to look at the indecently clothed girl. As she turned the page she noticed another ad for a fast food restaurant, only this one had a woman wearing far more clothing and looking far more confident in what she was doing. The ad featured the woman sitting behind the wheel of a semi truck, eating a large taco salad. Grams Bear was perplexed not only by the food that the woman was eating, but by her mannerisms. "Swift Heart," she said, not taking her eyes off the ad, "what's this lady doing?"

Lifting his eyes from his National Geographic, Swift Heart took a look at what the old bear had asked. "Looks like she's eating," he responded nonchalantly as he retuned to his rainbow article. Shaking her head, Grams picked up the magazine so that Swift Heart could get a better look at it. "I mean what is she doing exactly? What is her profession? She looks so comfortable doing it all by herself."

Once again, Swift Heart took a look at the ad. "I think she's a truck driver," he said. "What kind of truck?" Grams persisted. "Hmmm," the bunny said, taking the magazine from Grams. "It looks like some kind of semi or moving truck, but I don't have a really good look at it from the angle that the picture was shot."

Grams Bear was now in a state of total curiosity. "Tell me more about these trucks! Do you have one?" she exclaimed, bouncing up and down just like Hugs and Tugs. "You know," said Swift Heart, his ears perking up with from a bright idea, "I don't have a big truck! That's it!" Bounding from his seat, Swift Heart dashed to his cluttered bookshelf for some of his builder's manuals.

Standing helplessly as the blue bunny dug ferociously through the bookshelf, Grams became curious as to what exactly Swift Heart was thinking. "It's perfect!" Swift Heart kept exclaiming with each book he tossed aside. "What's perfect?" Grams asked, dodging one of the airborne books. "A big truck! We can find parts for it, I can rebuild it with some spare parts and cloud filling, and you can learn how to drive it! There's a truck place in Pennsylvania that might have all the extras we need! What do ya say?" The old gray bear's eyes light up like a Christmas light display. "Oh Swift Heart! A big truck is perfect!" she shouted with excitement as she joined Swift Heart in the search for some automotive plans.

*****

"That kind of movie is called a documentary. What did you think of it?" Bright Heart said as he, Jimmy, and Funshine emerged from one of the library's video viewing rooms. "That was actually kinda cool," Jimmy said, still trying to put on a tough front. "I didn't know you could rent stuff like this at the library." "There are a lot more things you could rent here," Funshine smiled. "You said earlier that you liked comic books, right?" "I sure do!" Jimmy said, letting some of his excitement slip despite his tough front. "Great!" Funshine encouraged. "Let's ask where they are."

Jimmy walked up to the help desk, asking where the comic books were located. The old woman at the counter smiled at his enthusiasm, and pointed to a corner near the children's books. When he and his new friends had gotten to the stand where the books were located, they began to dig around for some good comics. "There sure are a lot of comics to choose from," Jimmy said as he picked up a sports related comic. "Yep, and did you know that they write lots of neat books about sports too?" Funshine asked enthusiastically. "They do?" Jimmy asked. "Where are they?" "Let's look in the sports section," Bright Heart said, pointing out a large row of book shelves that read "sports."

While they were in the isle looking up good books, Jimmy heard a familiar voice. "Mom!" he shouted running to his worried mother. "Jimmy! Where on earth have you been! I've been so worried about you!" his mother wept, hugging her son. "I met the neatest people, and they showed me some really neat stuff here! Did you know I can rent free movies here too?"

As Bright Heart and Funshine watched the reunion, they decided that their work was done there. "We should get going Funshine," Bright Heart said, happy that Jimmy and his mother had been reunited. "Yeah, but hang on a second," she said as she Stared something to leave behind for Jimmy.

The bear and raccoon left without a sound as Jimmy brought his mother to the isle where he and his new friends were looking at sports books. He was disappointed to see that they were no where in site, but he saw a brightly colored book mark on the floor where they were standing. He picked it up, seeing something was written on the back of it. "Dear Jimmy," the writing said. "Sorry we had to run off in such a hurry, but we've got some very important things to do back home. Bright Heart and I had a really good time looking through the library with you, and we're glad we could show you how much fun the library can be. Keep caring, and keep reading! -Funshine Bear."

Chapter 9: It Takes a Little Thing to Learn a Lot

After a heated debate that lasted a whole week, Soon Lee had reluctantly decided to let Teacher Bear and her cubs stay with them for a while. "That bear had better pull her weight!" Soon Lee said, grouchy that she had lost the argument. "I know she will," Klinger replied. "Besides, she's trying to get her degree, a lot like how I had to so I could be an X-Ray tech at the hospital."

The week passed uneasily as Teacher Bear did all she could to make Soon Lee happy. She tried helping her cook dinner, but Soon Lee would always end up shooing her out of the kitchen. She tried tidying up the house, but Soon Lee would always dismiss her, claiming that she would break something. She tried doing laundry, but Soon Lee would claim that she would stain the clothes with her fur coloration. There was nothing Teacher Bear could do that would make Soon Lee happy!

During the week, Teacher Bear had made an appointment to take Grateful Heart to see a doctor in the hospital that Father Mulcahey and Klinger worked at to check on his recent amputation. It had been a week since the incident, and she wanted it checked to see if it was healing well and not becoming infected. Klinger was able to finagle with the staff so that the check up wouldn't cost anything.

The day had approached for the check up, and Klinger was ready to drive her and Grateful Heart to their appointment. "You all ready to go Teach?" Klinger chimed out as Teacher Bear gathered a small diaper bag for Grateful Heart. "Just about," she said as she placed a few bottles in the diaper bag and turned to Soon Lee to ask her some questions. "Now you're sure you have everything under control while I'm away?" "I've raised kids!" Soon Lee said sharply. "I know what I'm doing! Go to your appointment!"

Teacher Bear shrank under the harsh sound of Soon Lee's voice. "Okay," she said, "but if you have any trouble, you know where to reach us." Taking Grateful Heart from Klinger, Teacher Bear left for the baby hedgehog's appointment.

*****

"Just a little more paint and the truck'll be finished!" Swift Heart Rabbit exclaimed as he airbrushed "Born to be Wild" into a large red heart on the side of the semi truck. Grams Bear was decorating the interior of the truck with cushiony purple seats. "I'm really looking forward to learning how to drive this truck Swift Heart," she said as she put the finishing touches on the seats. "I haven't been this excited since I made Christmas ornaments with Hugs and Tugs."

Standing back to admire their handy work, Swift Heart and Grams smiled at the highly decorated truck. "Thank you for all the hard work you put into this Swift Heart," Grams said, hugging her friend. "No problem Grams," Swift Heart said. "It took us all week to finish, but now it's up and running perfectly! Let's hop in and I'll teach you how to drive it!"

Grams Bear didn't have to be told twice. She was so excited to learn to drive that she got in before Swift Heart had lifted the door to the garage. "Alright Grams Bear. Get your seat belt on and turn the key in the ignition," Swift Heart explained as he belted himself in. Grams turned the key as she was told, and the diesel engine roared to life. "It's starting!" Grams said, her voice breathy with excitement. "Alright, put your foot on the clutch. That's the peddle on the left," Swift Heart explained. "Once you have the clutch in, ease the truck into first gear with the gear shift."

Grams Bear was glad that she was around when the truck was built. While they had built the truck, Swift Heart took the time to explain what every part did to make the truck work. It was thanks to Swift Heart's explanations that she knew what knobs and switches the bunny spoke of. "Okay Swift Heart, we're in first gear," Grams said, gripping the wheel as if she were ready for anything. "Great!" Swift Heart said, just as eager as Grams. "Now just give it a little gas, and we'll be off!"

The old bear did as she was told, and before she knew it she was moving the truck forward. "I'm doing it!" she exclaimed as the truck slowly made its way out of the under cloud garage. "You sure are Grams Bear!" Swift Heart smiled, looking out the window as they safely cleared the garage opening. "Let me get out for a second and shut the garage door, and then we'll be off again!"

Grams watched from the mirrors as Swift Heart closed the garage door. She couldn't believe herself, sitting behind the wheel of a big truck happy and confident just like the woman in the ad. "Move 'em out Grams Bear!" Swift Heart said as he hopped into the passenger's seat and buckled his safety belt. "Put her in second and let's ride! Next stop Care-A-Lot!"

*****

"The doctor will see you now, Miss Mulcahey," the receptionist said. Teacher Bear thanked her as she and Grateful Heart made their way into the doctor's examining room.

Grateful Heart began to fidget as Teacher Bear sat him down on the table. "I know it's cold, my dear one," Teacher Bear said as she set a blanket down for him to sit on. "Don't worry, the doctor will be in shortly to take good care of you."

Just as Teacher Bear finished speaking to the little green hedgehog, a nurse whose name tag read "Jones" came into the room. "Oh, what a cutie!" Nurse Jones smiled, leaning close to Grateful Heart and smiling broadly. "The staff said he was a little different, but they didn't tell me how cute he was!"

Teacher Bear was relieved that the nurse didn't think too oddly of them. She was actually quite pleased by how affectionate the nurse was toward the little cub. "From what we've gathered, he seems to have the same functions as a human baby," Teacher Bear explained, distracting the nurse from her game of peek-a-boo with Grateful Heart. "Well that's good," Nurse Jones said, still ogling over baby Grateful Heart. "We'll take your temperature then, shall we cutie pie!"

After weighing, taking temperature, and a few other essentials, the nurse could see that Grateful Heart seemed to be very healthy. "Aside from his poor little arm, he seems perfectly fine," she smiled, holding him closely and making him giggle happily. "Besides, he seems like a happy little baby, and he's cute as the dickens!" She handed Teacher Bear the little cub, who continued to giggle happily. "I'll get these records to Dr. Harris, who will be in shortly," she explained. "In the mean time little fella, you behave yourself and I'll have a nice teething cookie ready for when you get done!"

Grateful Heart continued to babble happily as they waited for the doctor to arrive. Teacher Bear was relieved to see that he was fairing better than his last visit with Dr. Miller. Before they knew it, they heard a knock at the door. "Come in," Teacher Bear said, standing as Dr. Harris entered the room. "Ah, Father Mulcahey told me all about you Miss Mulcahey," she said, extending her hand in friendship. "My mom knows him from the war. He helped her get her medical degree."

Teacher Bear was delighted to meet someone that Father Mulcahey already knew well. "Very nice to meet you," she said. "I didn't know Francis had such a big influence in your family." "He sure has," the young doctor smiled. "Mom told me that she couldn't have gotten through the army medical exam without his help. According to mom, Father Mulcahey was one of her few friends over there, and he helped her make more friends that helped her with the medical exams. Now thanks to mom's help and my years of schooling, I've had my medical degree for six years now." "That's quite a story," Teacher Bear smiled. "I too am hoping to get a degree soon, only I'm running into some road blocks."

Dr. Harris became concerned when she saw Teacher Bear's cheerful expression turn somber. "What's standing in your way?" she asked. "Well, the children mostly," she explained. "You have more than just this one?" the doctor asked, a bit surprised by the response. "I'm afraid so," Teacher Bear explained. "I adopted them shortly after my guardian died. They were orphaned and had no where else to go. I felt bad seeing as how they became like me shortly after I showed up. I couldn't just abandon them, not after they changed so strangely to look a lot like me."

Dr. Harris could see tears forming around Teacher Bear's eyes, so she grabbed a tissue for her. "How did your guardian die?" she asked. "In a tornado," Teacher Bear explained, using the tissue on her leaking eyes. "I found Grateful Heart outside the window with his wounds, and I took him to see a rather rude vet. While we were in the vet's office, the change happened. It happened to six other baby animals there too." "That's very kind of you to take them all in," Dr. Harris said, placing a comforting hand on the little bear's shoulder. "Thank you," Teacher Bear said as she cleared her nose, "but it's so tough some times. I want them to have good things, but I was only given so much as an inheritance. Mrs. Mulcahey gave it to me to use for my education, but I don't know if I should use it on myself or for the kids."

Suddenly, Dr. Harris's eyes lit up with possibility. "Have you ever thought about taking night classes at a community college?" she asked. Teacher Bear shook her head, looking a bit confused. "You should really look into it," the doctor explained. "They have a lot of adult programs at night, and many of them meet one or two nights a week. I took classes like that to knock out most of my general education requirements. They even helped me find a good college to go on to when I was done there." "Are they expensive?" Teacher Bear asked, gulping nervously at the prospect of price. "Community colleges are often a lot cheaper than regular colleges," she explained. "The nice thing is that you can take advantage of financial aid and scholarships. Why don't I have Nurse Jones get a few phone numbers for you? Besides, she seems quite taken with your little Grateful Heart there."

Teacher Bear was beside herself. In a matter of minutes the doctor had opened a window of possibility for her in a dark area of her life. "How can I ever thank you?" she smiled, shaking the doctor's hand gratefully. "My pleasure," Dr. Harris replied. "Now why don't we give your little one the exam that we have him scheduled for."

*****

"Thanks to that article Swift Heart gave me about a week ago, Grumpy and I were able to make some improvements in the satellite dish," Bright Heart Raccoon said, showing a group of onlookers the newly updated set of plans for the dish. "It seems that last week's catastrophe turned out to be a blessing in disguise!" "That's easy for you to say!" Grumpy Bear complained. "You weren't the one who had that blasted dish fall on you!"

Behind him, Grumpy could hear his daughter, Strategy Bear, giggling. "Papa!" she said, holding out her arms for Grumpy to pick her up. "Well, we did have a good time in the shop, didn't we Strategy," he smiled, picking up his little girl and snuggling her. "She's starting to develop your knack for machinery," Share Bear said. Grumpy blushed as his wife spoke. "Well, these little projects are good for her," he said, handing his daughter back to Share. "Besides, they're a lot of fun!"

Turning to the roof crew, Grumpy went from gushy father to a bear barking out orders. "Okay guys, stars, and hearts. Let's not have any mishaps like we did last time. Champ, remember to stay focused!" "You got it sports fan!" Champ saluted. Grumpy nodded approvingly as he moved on to the rest of the crew. "Brave Heart, Playful Heart, Lotsa Heart, are you guys ready?" Lotsa Heart Elephant let out a loud call. "I'm ready when you are, and that's the truth!" he smiled. "Just don't do that in my ear again, okay Lotsa Heart," Grumpy asked, rubbing his ears. Lotsa Heart apologized as he and his friends began to climb the ladder with the ropes they would need to lift the satellite.

Everything seemed to be going well for the satellite crew as they lifted the dish higher and higher onto the roof of the Hall of Hearts. The dish made its way up on the roof with little problems, and the star and heart buddies were very effective at fetching tools to fasten the dish in place. Before they knew it, the dish was secured. "Good work everyone!" Bright Heart called down from the ground. "Get down here so we can go inside to test it!"

Once the roof crew had safely made it to the ground, they heard a very strange noise. "What's that?" Brave Heart asked as he cupped his ear in order to hear clearer. "It sounds like a truck horn," Playful Heart said as he climbed back onto the ladder to get a better look. Sure enough, a large semi truck was headed their way. "Um, guys, when did we get a big truck?" he asked. "We've never had one," Brave Heart explained. "It's probably another one of Swift Heart's hobby cars." "I don't know what it is," Playful Heart said, looking a bit fearful, "but it's coming right for us!"

The truck continued to sound its horn. "Slow down a little Grams Bear!" Swift Heart said, noticing that Grams was driving awfully fast. Grams began fiddling with the gear shift, but noticed a very big problem with it. "The gear shift is stuck! I can't shift it!" Grams shouted fearfully.

Sticking his head out the window, Swift Heart began to signal his friends to move out of the way. "What is Swift Heart doing in the passenger's seat?" Playful Heart asked as he watched Swift Heart signaling everyone. "I don't know," Brave Heart shouted, fearing the same question, "but we'd better get a move on! RUUUUUUUUUNNNNNN!!!!!" With that, everyone began to scatter in different directions.

"We're going to hit someone!" Grams screamed, looking about frantically for something to stop the truck. "Hit the brakes! Quick!" Swift Heart shouted over the sounds of the truck and Grams Bear's fearfulness. Grams did as she was told, causing the back of the truck to fishtail into the Hall of Hearts and puncture a big hole into it.

Once the truck was stopped, everyone began to approach the damage to see what had happened and who was driving. Slowly and shamefully, Grams and Swift Heart got out of the truck. When they had gotten out, they saw that Lotsa Heart Elephant was nose to nose with the front grill of the truck. His eyes were plastered wide open with fear. "It…big…truck…truth!" he babbled, his whole body shaking in shock.

"What do you think you were doing Grams Bear!" Grumpy began to holler. "You could have gotten somebody killed!" The old bear stared down at the ground helplessly, which Swift Heart did not like seeing. "Now wait just a minute Grumpy Bear!" he shouted in defense of Grams. "It wasn't her fault!" "She was driving, wasn't she?" Grumpy said, crossing his arms and leering disapprovingly at Swift Heart. "Yeah, but the gear shift got stuck," Swift Heart replied, now nose to nose with a very angry Grumpy Bear.

Grams hated to see two friends become angry with each other. She placed her paw on Swift Heart's shoulder to calm him down. "Let it go Swift Heart," she sighed. "I just want to go home." "That's a good idea," Grumpy added, crossing his arms again. "You shouldn't have been driving this hunk of junk anyway. You're too old to be joy riding in something this dangerous."

With tears in the corners of her eyes, Grams sprinted to her nearby house. She felt so bad for causing so much damage on a count of her being bored. "Grams Bear!" shouted Swift Heart. "Wait! It'll be okay!"

The bunny tried to sprint after her, but Grams had gotten to her house and slammed the door. "Real nice Grumpy," Swift Heart huffed. "She was just trying to learn something new and you just made her lose her confidence in herself. I hope you don't treat your little girl like that!" Grumpy Bear opened his mouth to retort back, but Swift Heart had had enough of Grumpy's complaints. In a matter of seconds, Swift Heart had sped away.

In his frustration, Grumpy gave the truck a hard kick. "Crazy Swift Heart and his ridiculous ideas!" he mumbled, kicking a tire a few times. His actions seemed to trigger a small shift in the structure of the Hall of Hearts, causing the satellite to fall off the roof and land upside down on him again. "Not again!" Grumpy shouted from inside the satellite dish. "Get me out of here!"

Chapter 10: Four Star Community College

In her excitement, Teacher Bear had called the community college to schedule an appointment. She hadn't filled out college paper work since the 50's, and she was sure that the forms had changed since then. She had so many questions about financial aid, scholarships, class requirements, and much, much more that she felt overwhelmed. Each time she had thought of a question, she wrote it down. This was a very exciting thing for her, and she wanted to make sure that everything went as smoothly as possible.

The day arrived when she would finally speak to a community college representative. Father Mulcahey took day off so that he could take care of the children while Soon Lee and Klinger went in to work. Both of them had to go in to work early, so Teacher Bear would have to take the bus to get out to the community college.

Several people stopped and stared at the peculiar blue bear at the bus stop, which made Teacher Bear feel very out of place. "Better for them to stare now," she thought to herself as a man honked his horn at her. "It'll help them get used to seeing more like me, and that'll help the kids when they get older."

The bus arrived after about fifteen minutes of stares and glares. Teacher Bear put her few coins into the tray and took her seat. She could feel people watching her from where she sat. "Where you going, honey?" the burly, African American bus driver asked, a bit shocked by his passenger. "The community college," Teacher Bear responded, trying to sound as confident as she could muster. "No kidding? You're headed to Four Star?" the driver smiled. "I got a daughter that goes to school there. Real nice campus, and lots of good classes."

Teacher Bear began to ease up a bit, happy to see that someone was welcoming her on the bus. "I'm glad to hear that it's a nice school," she said, trying to keep the conversation going. "What is she going there for?" "She wants to teach gym," he said, smiling with pride. "She's knockin' out her Gen Eds now, but she's gonna move on to a big university soon." "Really?" Teacher Bear said, very excited that someone else shared her excitement. "I'm going for elementary education! How does she like the program they offer?" "So far she likes it alright," he said. "Nell's doing really good in school, and I know she'll make a great teacher. We sure need 'em around here." "Are teachers in short supply?" she asked, having a hard time containing her enthusiasm. "They sure are!" he said. "Lots of 'em get jobs in the city or just plain move outta here. It's a little town and there's not a whole lot to do around here."

Teacher Bear leaned back in her seat, daydreaming of a classroom all to her own. She could just see the black board full of words and drawings, and children's eager hands raising high in the air. She could see artwork hanging on the walls, a corner for books, a her own desk with a big red apple sitting on the corner…

"Miss! Miss!" the bus driver said, jogging Teacher Bear out of her daydream. "We're in front of Four Star Community College." Teacher Bear looked out the window, seeing the college campus lay out before her. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't realize we were here already." "That's okay," he said. "I just didn't want you to miss your stop." Teacher Bear thanked him for his kindness as she got off the bus. "I'll tell Nell to keep an eye out for ya!" the bus driver said as she got off the bus. "Good luck to ya little Teacher Bear!"

Shocked to hear her nick name from someone she hadn't given her name to, Teacher Bear turned around to ask him how he knew it. Before she could do so, he had already closed the door to the bus and began to drive away. "Will wonders never cease," she said to herself as she waved her good bye to the bus as it drove away.

Before long, Teacher Bear found a campus directory sign showing where she needed to go. "The woman over the phone said that I needed to go to the registrar's office," she said as she looked at the map. Seeing a big red dot that said "you are here" on the directory sign, she discovered that the registrar's office was two buildings to her right.

When she got to the office, she was greeted by a middle aged woman. "Can I help you miss?" she asked, looking a bit confused by the sight a little blue bear. "I have an appointment to speak with someone here," she replied causally. "Ah, you must be Miss Mulcahey," the woman smiled, extending her hand to shake. "I pictured you a bit… taller. I'm Grace Lyman. We spoke on the phone a few days ago." "Yes, I remember you," Teacher Bear smiled, giving the woman a hand shake. "I have loads of questions, so let's get started!"

Chapter 11: Wrong

The Kingdom of Caring was bustling with excitement as everyone began the annual round up of little heart buddies. It was nearing time for their journey to Big Star Point to rejoin the Great Wishing Star.

You see, each year as summer comes to an end all the little hearts that have grown old enough must go back to the Great Wishing Star. While they are with the Great Wishing Star, the little heart buddies prepare the way for the Great Star Round Up, a second rounding up of their star friends which occurs in the fall. It is during this time of year that the hearts leave behind heart seeds, which need the star dust from the star round up to grow new little heart and star buddies. It is always sad to see a group of hearts or stars leave, but it is always a joyous occasion to see the new little hearts and stars emerge from the snow around Christmas time.

The trickiest task of all during this time of year was finding the hearts. They could be found in a wide variety of places, such as in trees, out sunning themselves, or just flying around Care-A-Lot. More often than not, they are found in the most unusual of places, such as chimneys, couch cushions, and even stuck inside machinery! There was no telling where a heart buddy would be!

For many of the cubs of Care-A-Lot, this was their first ever round up, and finding hearts was turning out to be a lot of fun. "I found one!" Tugs Bear said triumphantly as he pulled a stray heart buddy from under a bush. "Oh goodie, goodie gosh Grams! It's just like Easter!" Hugs Bear said as she grabbed another heart from behind a trash can.

Grams Bear was beginning to feel better as she and the cubs raced around looking for stray hearts. It had been a week since the incident with the truck, and the Hall of Hearts still wasn't finished being patched up. For the whole week, she had become the butt of several jokes, but it seemed that in the excitement of the round up, everyone forgot about her little mishap and concentrated more on rounding up the little hearts.

As the cubs continued their fancy free search, Swift Heart Rabbit poked his head over the white picket fence. "Hiya Grams Bear!" he said happily. "You and the cubs sure look like you're having fun!" Grams returned his smile half heartedly. "We are," she said as she plucked a heart from a nearby flower pot. "So, what brings you out of the Forest of Feelings?" "Well," Swift Heart began, jumping over the fence with ease, "I just wanted to tell you that I fixed the gear shift on the semi. I also repaired all the damages to it, so it's better than new!"

Grams Bear shot the little blue bunny a mean look. "You have a lot of nerve Swift Heart Rabbit!" she shouted. "Do you really think that I would put everyone in danger again after what happened last time?!?" "It wasn't your fault!" Swift Heart said, trying to sound encouraging despite getting a chew out. "I should have test driven it before you got in! I did this time, and now I know it's working perfectly. Besides, you shouldn't give up that easily. You gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet after all." "Yes, but how many buildings will I need to break before I learn to drive that blasted contraption?!? Ten? Twenty? Perhaps I can smash some of our family in the process to help me learn better!"

Swift Heart shrank back from Grams Bear's harsh words. "Accidents happen," he said meekly as Grams turned her back to him. Feeling there was little more he could do, Swift Heart jumped the fence again. "It'll be in the garage whenever you're ready to try again," he said as he sulked away.

*****

"Freeloader bear! Get out of my kitchen!" Soon Lee yelped as Teacher Bear came into the kitchen. "I just need to warm up a few bottles," Teacher Bear said as calmly as she could over the sound of hungry babies in the guest bedroom. "You will burn my house down if you do," Soon Lee said as she snatched the bottles away from Teacher Bear. "I most certainly will not!" Teacher Bear said, trying to make herself look as tough as she could. Soon Lee glared back at the little blue bear, angry that she had to deal with her living in her guest bedroom. "You wanna help?" she said angrily. "Take out the trash! Your smelly babies make too much mess."

Torn between wanting to assert herself and wanting to earn her keep, Teacher Bear did as she was told. With a pout on her face, she dragged the white plastic trash can to the back door. "Don't scuff up my floors!" Soon Lee shouted as Teacher Bear had gotten outside with the waste can. "Your floors, your stove, your house…" Teacher Bear grumbled as she dragged the heavy trash can to the curb to tie up the bag. "I can't do anything right in Soon Lee's house! Soon Lee doesn't like little freeloader bears! You'll really eat your words after I get my own classroom! I'll show you, you crabby old hag!"

She continued to gripe to herself as she dragged the empty trashcan back to the house. "It's empty!" she shouted as she opened the door, expecting to be bombarded by more of Soon Lee's insults. Much to her surprise, she saw Soon Lee lying on the floor with formula spilled all over. "Where have you been you lazy bear!" the old Korean woman shouted in pain. "I fell and hurt my foot!"

Chapter 12: Joyless Ride

Teacher Bear sat uneasily in the waiting room of General Pershing's Veteran Hospital awaiting the results of Soon Lee's x-ray. People stared at her and the carriage full of squirming cubs, some of the onlookers smiling, some looking as though they were seeing things, and some ignoring them all together. Hating to look at the other people staring at her, Teacher Bear buried her face in an old copy of Vogue magazine.

As Teacher Bear sat and waited for the results of the x-ray, Father Mulcahey came through one of the many doors to greet her. "Bluebelle, is everything alright?" Father Mulcahey asked as he sat next to his old friend. "Francis!" Teacher Bear said, happy to see a familiar face in the crowd of strangers. "Fanci!" Charity Heart chimed in happily as she always did when she saw the old chaplain. Father Mulcahey picked up the little fox, as happy to see her as she was to see him. "How did you know we were here?" Teacher Bear asked as she put down the old magazine she was pretending to read. "This is a hospital," Father Mulcahey said. "Scuttlebutt around here is as common as treating broken bones."

As the bear and the priest chatted about what had happened in the Klinger house, Soon Lee came out in a wheel chair pushed by her husband. "There you are freeloader bear!" she said meanly. "I have a sprained ankle thanks to your smelly babies." "Calm down honey!" Klinger said in response to his wife. "It could be a lot worse." "It could be a lot better if you didn't let this little bear live with us!" Soon Lee replied, crossing her arms in front of her.

Teacher Bear was beginning to get very tired of Soon Lee's behavior. Crossing her own arms in the same fashion as Soon Lee, Teacher Bear stared the old woman square in the eye and said, "I'm here whether you like it or not, so you'd better damn well get used to it!"

Soon Lee was a bit taken aback by the little bear's response. "How dare you!" she said, pointing accusingly at the little bear. "I let you into my home and all you do is cause trouble! Max, I want this bear and her babies out of my house!"

The two women stared angrily at each other as the waiting room watched in anticipation. "Klinger," Teacher Bear said, still staring down Soon Lee, "would you mind giving us a ride home?" "There you go taking advantage of us again!" Soon Lee began to yell.

Klinger was beginning to get tired of the drama his wife was causing. "I got a better idea," he said as he turned his wife's wheel chair away from the little bear. "I know someone who can give you a ride back. He owes me."

Soon Lee crossed her arms again and began to pout loudly. "Max! I can't believe you!" Soon Lee screamed from her chair as Klinger and Teacher Bear walked away to find the ride.

*****

Due to the fact that heart buddies like hiding in the strangest of places, the heart round up was running behind schedule. Near the round up pen, Bright Heart Raccoon was tabulating the hearts that Brave Heart Lion and Swift Heart Rabbit had just brought in. "Looks like we've almost got all of them," he said as he entered a few more numbers in on his clipboard. "That's good," Brave Heart said, wiping sweat from his brow. "Round up gets more and more tiring every year!" "I know," Bright Heart said as he added up the newly entered numbers. "According to my calculations, we only have twelve more hearts to find before we can start heading out."

Just as he said his calculations, Grams, Hugs, and Tugs walked up to the pen with a basket of hearts. "Hi Brave Heart!" Hugs exclaimed, giving the lion one of her trade mark hugs. "We got a whole basket full of hearts for ya!" Tugs added, holding up the basket for Brave Heart to see.

Taking the basket from Tugs, Brave Heart began to count out the giggling hearts. As he did so, Swift Heart began trying to make small talk with Grams Bear. "So, how's it going?" he asked, trying to break the ice. "We just finished finding hearts in our back yard," Grams said as she watched Brave Heart finish his counting. "Twelve! Right on the button!" he said, handing the basket to Bright Heart to add to the pen.

Everyone was relieved to know that all the hearts had been collected up for the trip. "Alright cowbears!" Brave Heart shouted to everyone around him. "We've got all the little heart buddies together! Saddle up! We'll be leaving in about fifteen minutes!"

Everyone near the pen cheered as they got into their cloud cars and rainbow rollers. Hopping into his nearby cloud car, Swift Heart beeped his horn playfully at Grams Bear. "Are you gonna come with us on the round up?" he asked, patting the seat next to him invitingly. "I've got room for a few more!" "Ooooooo! Can we go Grams Bear? Can we? Can we? Can we?" the cubs begged, each of them tugging pleadingly on Grams Bear's arms.

Grams gazed upon the cubs excited faces with a slight sadness. She was hoping that they would have stayed home with her that afternoon rather than run off to do their own things like they seemed to do more and more often these days. Swift Heart's eager expression wasn't helping her in the decision process either. She knew that the rest of the family would not be too keen to her coming along due to her age and the recent truck incident. Taking a deep breath, Grams smiled at the two eager cubs. "Okay my little darlings, you can go with Swift Heart."

The two cubs rejoiced in Grams Bear's decision as they jumped into the back of Swift Heart's cloud car. "You know Grams Bear," Swift Heart smiled as he pointed to the empty seat next to him, "there's room for one more!" "No thank you Swift Heart," Grams said, shaking her head no. "I guess I'm just not cut out for stuff like this."

Swift Heart sadly watched Grams as she turned to leave. He really wanted to make her feel better, but he was at a complete loss for words. "What's wrong, Swift Heart," Brave Heart said as he leaned up against the blue bunny's cloud car. "I just want to help Grams Bear feel better," he said as he met eyes with his old friend. Brave Heart smiled as he wrote a few things down on his clip board. "I know you mean well," he said encouragingly, "but we're still fixing the damages to the Hall of Hearts. Maybe you should leave her be."

Swift Heart was about to say something about the truck incident not being Grams Bear's fault when Brave Heart turned around to yell out some more orders. "Okay Bright Heart!" he shouted. "Swift Heart's car is ready to take off! I'll get him and his crew on group six!"

*****

"Hey Rizzo!" Klinger said as he poked his sleeping coworker. "Rizzo! Wake up!" Rizzo snorted and stirred as he awoke, meeting his gaze with Klinger. "Well, hello there buzzard beak! I wasn't expecting to see you 'til Thursday's poker game. Now, don't you worry, I'll be gettin' that money I owe you real soon." "You're just like your dad, ya know that," Klinger said, shaking his head. "Yeah, everybody you went to war with says that Klinger," Rizzo said, recalling how his father, Luther, used to take it easy as frequently as he could in the motor pool at the 4077th. "I didn't come here to collect dues," Klinger said as he walked around the ambulance check out counter where his friend was snoozing. "I need a favor."

Rizzo's smile quickly changed to a look of awe and confusion when he saw Teacher Bear following closely behind Klinger. "What the hell…" he said at the sight of the little blue bear, pinching himself to see if he was still sleeping. "Hello to you too Mr… Billy Bubba," Teacher Bear said, looking at Rizzo's name tag as he continued to pinch himself. "Hey, it can talk!" he said as he took a harder look at Teacher Bear. "Where'd you get it Klinger? Is this something new from the gift shop?" "Excuse me!" Teacher Bear shouted as Rizzo picked her up off the ground by her paw. "Would you mind putting me down!"

Taken back by Teacher Bear's yelling, Rizzo did as she requested. "Sorry lady," he said. "We don't get folks like you around these parts." "Yes, I'm painfully aware of that," Teacher Bear said haughtily as she smoothed out her dress. "Take it easy you two," Klinger cut in, seeing that Teacher Bear had just about had enough of Rizzo's inquisitive behavior. "Rizzo, we need a big favor from you. My wife sprained her ankle, and she'll need a ride home. Can you sign out an ambulance and take Soon Lee home?"

A sleazy smile crept across Rizzo's face at the prospect. "Well…" he said, dramatically stroking his chin, "I don't know Klinger. That's an awful big favor, and you know how the hospital feels about joyridin' around in the ambulances." Klinger could feel Rizzo's hook dangling under his nose. "I'll drop your dues," he offered, feeling rather pained at the prospect of losing $50 owed to him. "Why Klinger, that's real gentlemanly of you," Rizzo replied smoothly. "I think we can arrange to take your pretty little wife home for such a nice offer." "You'll be taking home more than just Soon Lee," Teacher Bear said, raising her eyebrow to the ambulance check out man. "My kids and I need a ride home too."

Rizzo was a bit surprised by what Teacher Bear said, but he decided not to question her. "Whatever you say miss," he said, not wanting to raise the wrath of the little blue bear again.

Chapter 13: Rough Riders

"Getty up cowbears!" Brave Heart Lion commanded. "We gotta get these little hearts outta here quick!" Sitting at his side, Bright Heart Raccoon gazed at a map. "We're really behind schedule Brave Heart," he said as he glanced at his watch. "I hate to say it, but it might be wise of us to take a short cut through Gloomy Gulch Trail."

The convoy of cloudmobiles came to a screeching halt when they heard Bright Heart talk of Gloomy Gulch Trail. Everyone remembered how dangerous going through the short cut was during the previous star round up, and very few of them cared to go through there again. "That's right through No Heart's property," Swift Heart Rabbit shouted from his cloud car. "I promised Grams Bear that I would take care of Hugs and Tugs, and I intend to keep my promise!" "We don't have much choice Swift Heart!" Brave Heart interjected. "If we don't hurry, these little hearts won't be able to drop their seeds, and we won't have any new star or heart buddies for next year!"

A ripple went through the crowd of bears and cousins. Everyone worried about their own safety, but they knew that the hearts would rupture if they did not release their seeds in time. "Why don't we have a vote!" Swift Heart suggested. "All for a safer route, raise your paws." The crowd looked a bit uneasily at each other, especially since Brave Heart stood before them in such an authoritative manner. About a third brave enough to express their opinion raised their paws. "All for the quickest route, raise your paws!" Brave Heart shouted, sounding more confident than Swift Heart. The rest of the crowd raised their paws for Brave Heart's suggestion. "Good choice everybody," Brave Heart said, sounding very pleased with himself. "Let's all hunker down and get a move out!"

*****

Little did the Care Bears know that they were being watched. "So, they have decided to take their little hearts through my property," No Heart said as he gazed into his caldron. "How fortunate for me. This is a perfect opportunity to rid myself of them, but I'll need those hearts to do it."

As he watched the image in his caldron, his fuzzy little flunky assistant, Beastly, barged in on him. "Hey No Heart!" he shouted obnoxiously. "You'll never guess what I saw! The Care Bears are…" "Passing through Gloomy Gulch Trail. I am aware of this Beastly," No Heart interrupted. "I need a way to catch those hearts that they are rustling."

Beastly was confused. "But No Heart," he asked, scratching his unkempt head of hair in thought, "what do you want with a bunch of cutesy little hearts? Shouldn't you be going after the Care Bears instead?" "We are, Beastly, but we need the little hearts to do so," No Heart explained as he walked over to a nearby bookshelf for an idea on how to catch the hearts.

By now Beastly was utterly confused, which did not take much. "But why the hearts, No Heart? Why can't we just clobber those Care Bears?" "Enough!" No Heart shouted. If it was one thing he hated, it was having is authority questioned. "Are you even aware of what those hearts do for the Care Bear's ecosystem?" he asked, staring maliciously into Beastly's eyes. The little imp shook his head fearfully, hoping that by not talking he would not evoke the wrath of the dark wizard.

No Heart picked Beastly up by the scruff of his neck and held him near the caldron opening. "Observe Beastly," he said, waving his hand over the caldron to show a bird's eye view of the Kingdom of Caring. "Unlike the Forest of Feelings, Care-A-Lot has very little structure to its foundation. The Forest of Feelings depends upon its plant life to hold its cloud foundation together, where as Care-A-Lot is much more spread out. The only reason Care-A-Lot is able to keep its cloud structure at all is because of the hearts and stars method of reproduction. When the hearts spread their seeds, they must grow roots into the clouds, giving the clouds a root structure slightly weaker than that of the Forest of Feelings to help it stay intact."

Much to his surprise, everything he was saying began to sink into Beastly's dense mind. "So what you're saying is that plant life is what holds the Kingdom of Caring together?" he asked, looking intently into the caldron. "That is exactly my point," No Heart said, slightly relieved that Beastly actually understood what he had to say. "It is because of this that I want those hearts!" "You want me to go get 'em No Heart?" Beastly asked, grinning at the possibility of doing something nasty. "It'll be so much fun watching 'em rupture in the dungeon when they don't make it to the Great Wishing Star!" "Be quite Beastly," No Heart scolded. "We will let them get to the Great Wishing Star. However, I plan to alter their seeds. That, Beastly, is why I need those stars! With altered seeds, the foundation of Care-A-Lot will become so weakened that it will crumble out of the sky!"

The dark wizard and imp laughed out loud at the thought of Care-A-Lot being wiped out. It seemed all too good to be true. "Quickly Beastly," No Heart ordered. "I am in need of a way to catch the hearts." Beastly scratched his chin as he thought. "Well, if we could get a big fishing net, that might work!" No Heart shook his head. "That wouldn't work," he said. "We have no one to carry it."

Suddenly, inspiration came to the dark wizard. "Beastly," he said, hardly able to contain his diabolical excitement. "You have a few spiders, don't you?" "Sure No Heart," Beastly replied. "One of 'em just laid an egg sack." "Perfect!" No Heart exclaimed, digging through his book shelf for a spell book. "Fetch me that egg sack, Beastly. We shall create a spider army to capture both the hearts and the Care Bears!"

*****

"There ya go little misses!" Rizzo said as he rolled Soon Lee's wheel chair out of the ambulance ramp. "Home sweet home." "Not that freeloader bear's home!" she shouted venomously as Teacher Bear made her way out of the ambulance with the carriage. "Would you mind getting the door for me Rizzo?" Teacher Bear said, ignoring Soon Lee's temper tantrum. "I need to get Mrs. Klinger inside so she can lie down. As you can tell, she gets a bit testy when she misses her nap." "I don't need a nap!" Soon Lee yelled, causing many of the neighbors to peek outside to see what the matter was. "You can't treat me like this! I'm not one of your smelly babies!"

Rizzo did as Teacher Bear told him, bringing Soon Lee into the living room. "Thank you Rizzo. That'll do," Teacher Bear said, shaking the ambulance driver's hand. "Sure little lady," he smiled, tipping his hat in a friendly manner. "You let me know if you need anything else, especially if I owe Klinger!"

Soon Lee looked displeased as Rizzo walked out the door. "He's a freeloader just like you little bear!" she said bitterly. "He put me in a drafty spot, and now I'm cold." "I would think you would be grateful for the ride home," Teacher Bear said in response to Soon Lee's behavior. "Why don't I move you near the window where it's warmer."

Teacher Bear did as she said she would, putting Soon Lee in a sunny spot in the room. "Now I'm too hot," Soon Lee said, getting a thrill out of giving Teacher Bear trouble. Teacher Bear let out an annoyed sigh as she moved Soon Lee out of the sun. "I can not see the television," the old woman continued to complain. "What do you want then? Do you want to be warm or see the television?" Teacher Bear huffed in anger. "Don't yell in my house!" Soon Lee shouted. "I want both!" "Than I'll get you a sweater!" Teacher Bear shouted back, wheeling Soon Lee into the middle of the room before walking out.

*****

Once again bored out of her mind, Grams Bear was occupying her time in her kitchen baking one of her famous happy apple pies to make amends with Swift Heart. She knew she was being very hard on Swift Heart over the truck incident, and she felt guilty for it. In her heart, she knew Swift Heart was just trying to help her get out of her gloomy mood, so she hoped the pie would help mend their friendship.

As Grams placed the freshly baked pie on the window sill to cool, she could see the faint pink glow in the distance from the hearts being rounded up. "I sure hope the cubs are having fun," she said to herself, regretting her decision of not going along.

As she turned her gaze away from the activities outside, Grams heard a faint squeak coming from outside the window. A small, exhausted little heart buzzed through her window, landing in the sink with a loud splash. Fishing the little heart out of the soapy dish water, Grams asked the little heart what was going on.

The heart began buzzing around the room, trying to explain that something terrible had happened during the round up. "Calm down, my little darling!" Grams exclaimed as the little heart buzzed head first into her freshly baked pie, knocking it off the window sill. "Why don't we go upstairs to the attic and find my star-o-scope. It's high enough up there that you can point out the trouble, okay?" The hyper little heart nodded in agreement as it buzzed ahead up the stairs, smacking into a few things on its way up.

*****

The afternoon was beginning to fade, and Teacher Bear knew she would need to start making dinner soon before Klinger got home from his shift at the hospital. "Don't you go into my kitchen you freeloader!" Soon Lee shouted from her wheelchair as Teacher Bear made her way to the kitchen door. "You'll turn my kitchen blue!" "It could use a fresh coat of color!" Teacher Bear said as she grabbed the knob on the kitchen door. "You just watch your Wheel of Fortune and let me worry about dinner."

After Teacher Bear had slammed the kitchen door, Soon Lee began to get angry. "That's it!" she said mumbled angrily under her breath. "I'm calling Max. That bear is going out on her little blue butt!"

Wheeling her chair to the phone on the desk, she called the hospital to reach her husband. "Hello, Max?" she said when she heard someone pick up the phone. "No, it's Rick," said another x-ray tech on the other end. "Max is in x-ray right now. We got a kid here with his ankle bent up really funny. Max'll be out in a few minutes. Do you want to hold?" Soon Lee reluctantly agreed to wait for her husband to get to the phone, hearing something falling in the kitchen. "Oh blessed mother of God!" came the sound of Teacher Bear's voice from the kitchen. "There's flour everywhere!"

Soon Lee rolled her eyes as she heard a voice pick up from the other end. "Y'ello?" Klinger said as he came to the phone. "Max! Thank goodness it's you!" Soon Lee said angrily over the phone. "That bear is destroying my kitchen! I just heard her drop something and curse! We've got to get her out!!!"

Klinger took a deep breath, trying not to lose his temper for the umpteenth time that week. "What is she doing in the kitchen in the first place?" Klinger asked, hoping to keep the conversation to a dull roar. "She's making dinner," Soon Lee said crankily. "I bet she's making bear food and expects us to eat it!"

Klinger was at the end of his rope. "You know something, honey?" he said, sounding at the brink of his temper. "You and little Teacher Bear have a lot in common. You're making her feel like an outsider the same way you felt when you and I came back from Korea. Do you remember when no one would give us a loan for a house or let us rent an apartment because we're a mixed race couple? Well you're doing the same damned thing, and you're acting just like my mom when we left Toledo!" "Now you listen to me, Max!" Soon Lee shouted in the receiver. "Why should I?" Klinger yelled back. "I'm not going to listen to a hypocrite!" "I'm not like your mother, Max!" Soon Lee shouted back before she heard a loud click coming from the receiver. "Max? Max!" she shouted before slamming the phone down.

She hated to admit it, but her husband had struck a chord. Soon Lee began to feel angry as memories of meeting the Klinger clan resurfaced due to what her husband had said before he had hung up on her. She remembered all too well how hard it was to find a lender who would trust a mixed race couple with a loan, and how good it felt when they had beaten the odds and finally paid off the house loan. Had it not been for Colonel Potter inviting them to River Bend, they might not have gotten to the point in their lives that they were at now. More importantly, she remembered how hard it was to gain her mother in law's trust.

Soon Lee wheeled over to the kitchen door to check up on her house guest. Opening the kitchen door, she could see Teacher Bear covered in flour, busy sweeping up the floury mess. "I've got it taken care of," Teacher Bear said angrily as she continued to sweep up the mess. Soon Lee was surprised to see how upset Teacher Bear was by causing the mess, and was even saddened to see tears that had made tracks in the flour on the little bear's cheeks. As she watched the bear hard at work cleaning up the mess, she remembered the first dinner she had tried to make for her mother in law. She too had gotten flour all over the kitchen when she tried to make noodles.

"Are you just going to sit there and watch me, or is there nothing else good on TV?" Teacher Bear said angrily at Soon Lee's staring. "Okay," Soon Lee said rather absentmindedly as she closed the door and wheeled away.

*****

Once Grams Bear and the heart buddy were upstairs, they fished through a trunk and found her star-o-scope. The heart frantically pointed out the window, forcefully grabbing Grams Bear's star-o-scope so that she could see what was going on. "Oh my heavens!" the old bear screamed, watching what was happening just outside of No Heart Castle. "My poor little darlings! They've been wrapped in spider webs, and those spiders that caught them are twice as big as they are!"

The heart flew around frantically looking for an idea that would get Grams Bear into action, knocking into a box marked "baby toys." As it emerged from the collision, it found a plush, squeaky toy truck. Picking up the plush truck with all its strength, the little heart brought the truck up to Grams. "This is not a good time to play," Grams said dismally as she sat on a box to think of what she could do to save her family. The persistent little heart dropped the truck to the ground and began bouncing on it, squeaking it as loudly as it could to show the old bear its idea of how to save the Care Bear Family. "Not now!" Grams exclaimed, burying her face in her paws in frustration.

Unsatisfied by Grams Bear's response, the star buddy looked for another way to show her its idea. Looking around, it saw a ceramic, heart shaped cookie jar. Picking up the plush truck again, it went crashing into the cookie jar, breaking it into pieces.

The sound of the breaking jar startled Grams Bear, who called out to the little heart to see if it was alright. The heart squawked out to the bear from the remains of the cookie jar, which Grams quickly found. "Are you alright my little darling?" she asked as the heart continued to squeak the little truck with a determined look on its face. "Oh, no I couldn't!" Grams said in horror as she realized what the heart was trying to tell her. "I can't drive that big truck out there! I might hurt someone!" The heart squawked in disappointment, floating sorrowfully in the air and looking sadly out of the window. "I guess you're right, we don't have many other ideas," Grams said as she looked into the distance at the fading pink light. "Gather all your little star friends as quick as you can and meet me at Swift Heart's place."

Chapter 14: Strange Second Chances

Grams stood nervously in front of the semi with the keys in her paw, wondering if what she was about to do was such a good idea. "I could really hurt someone," she thought to herself as she walked up to the truck's door.

The little heart had done as it was told, bringing a large herd of stars to Swift Heart's home. In its excitement to get the mission going, it quickly buzzed through the open garage door, flying face first into the front window of the truck. "Are you alright, my little darling!" Grams said as the heart slowly slid down the window glass. It squeaked a meek reply as it slid to the bottom of the window. "Calm down! If you keep rushing around like that without thinking about what you're doing you'll end up getting yourself hurt! You might even end up hurting someone else if you're not careful!"

The heart squeaked apologetically. "That's alright dear. Just take a deep breath," Grams said, cupping the little heart in her paw. "I know you're scared for your friends and you're in a hurry to help them, but if you don't calm down and take your time you might do them more harm than good." The little heart smiled at the old bear and squeaked something to her, pointing to her and the truck. "Sort of like me and the truck you say?" Grams asked, looking a bit uneasy. The heart smiled and nodded in response. "Yeah," Grams said, looking a bit down. "Maybe this just isn't a good idea."

The heart floated out of Grams Bear's paw, giving her a look of disappointment. The little heart shook its head as it flew in front of the old bear's face to stop her from leaving the garage. It then took an overly dramatic deep breath to try to show Grams that she needed to calm down and think, just as she had told it to do.

All of the stars had gotten themselves loaded into the back of the truck as Grams took that deep breath. "Okay, I'll give it a try," she said as she opened the driver's door. The little heart happily whizzed in after her so that she could shut the door.

After they had buckled in, Grams turned the key to the ignition. She sat for a minute, the look of fear plastered on her face. Buckled in the seat next to her, the little heart took deep breaths again. Grams took a few deep breaths along with the heart, which helped to calm her nerves. "Now or never," she said as she put the truck in gear.

*****

Despite her setback with the flour and the lack of preparation, Teacher Bear had put together a nice little dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and string beans for her and the Klinger family. "Not to shabby, and better yet, I didn't turn it blue like Soon Lee said I would," she smiled to herself. "Oh, I almost wish she had some blue food coloring. That would make for a good practical joke!"

Her laughter for her own clever idea was cut short by the sound of her children crying. "You're babies are crying!" Soon Lee shouted from the living room. "I swear! I don't know who is more demanding, her or all seven of my cubs!" Teacher Bear said as she covered the freshly prepared dinner with a few napkins. Once the chicken was properly covered, she opened the door to the kitchen to tend to her children.

"Hey bear!" Soon Lee said the minute she saw Teacher Bear. "What did you cook?" "Fried chicken," Teacher Bear replied, not meeting Soon Lee's eyes due to her frustration. "I do hope it's alright with you, because I'm not going to cook you anything else." "Oh that's okay," Soon Lee said rather calmly. "It smells good."

Teacher Bear stopped dead in her tracks at the sound of the compliment. "Well… thank you," she said, rather surprised to hear something pleasant coming from cranky Soon Lee. "I… um… thought it sounded good. I didn't have a whole lot of time to prepare, so it's not going to be overly fancy or anything." The two women awkwardly looked at each other, wondering what else to say to one another. "I need to check on the children," Teacher Bear said sheepishly as she pushed the door open on the guest bedroom.

She was greeted by the smell of several diapers needing to be changed. "Goodness me!" she exclaimed as she let the crib side down to get to the cubs. "I don't even know who to change first!" "Why don't I give you a hand?" Soon Lee said as she wheeled her wheel chair into the room. Teacher Bear was even more surprised to see her in the room wanting to help than she was at hearing the compliment. "Okay," she said as she handed Pretty Heart over for a diaper change, feeling rather dumbstruck by Soon Lee's sudden change in behavior.

Soon Lee wheeled over to the guest bed and began to undo Pretty Heart's diaper. "Let me get you a fresh diaper and some cleaning things," Teacher Bear said, grabbing the diaper bag from the corner. "Thanks," Soon Lee said as she focused on the diaper change before her. "I'll have to have Max get the bassinette from the basement when he gets home. I swear, he would forget his own head if it wasn't vaulted to his neck, isn't that right little pinkie?" Soon Lee tickled little Pretty Heart's tummy, making her giggle. "Kiki!" she smiled as Soon Lee finished fastening her fresh diaper.

Together, Soon Lee and Teacher Bear changed all the cubs, which were now wide awake and wanting to play. Teacher Bear unpacked some of the cub's toys and placed them on the floor so that the children could play. As soon as the cubs were content on the floor, Teacher Bear sat down on the bed to keep an eye on them. "You know," said Soon Lee from her wheel chair, "for a bunch of stinky babies, they're kinda cute." By now, Teacher Bear was beginning to wonder why Soon Lee was paying her so many complements all of the sudden. "Can I ask you a question?" she asked, seeing Soon Lee nod rather awkwardly. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

Soon Lee sighed a bit indignantly. "I feel bad," she admitted. "When Max brought you home, I thought you were just another one of his freeloader friends. He's brought home freeloaders before, and I thought you were just another one of them." "He's brought home freeloaders?" Teacher Bear said, half smiling now that she knew more about why Soon Lee was acting so bitterly toward her. "Oh, has he ever brought home freeloaders!" Soon Lee exclaimed. "Last time his sister came for a visit, she was a total mess and didn't clean up after herself. I cleaned up after her for a week when she left. I even found a chicken bone in the floor vent!"

The two women laughed together at the thought of how a chicken bone could get caught in a floor vent, having fun trying to think of every possible way it could get down there. "I can't help wondering though," Teacher Bear said as she settled her laughing, "why were you so… I don't know… picky about me doing things?" "To be completely honest," Soon Lee began to blush, "I was kind of hoping to drive you away. I thought that maybe you wouldn't want to live here and take advantage of us if you didn't like living here." This theory made some sense to the old bear despite its ridiculousness. "So what made you decide that I'm not a freeloader after all?" she asked, starting to feel a little more comfortable talking to Soon Lee. "You've been working really hard to try to impress me," she admitted. "You took your baby to the doctor, went to sign up for school, and you even took care of me even despite me yelling at you. After you started fighting me back, I started thinking about why you were doing that. Max reminded me of how it was when we came to America and how I couldn't do anything to impress his mother. I didn't realize that I was acting just like her, and how much of a hypocrite I was."

The two women smiled warmly at each other. "I'm glad you're beginning to get more comfortable with me," Teacher Bear said happily. "No problem," Soon Lee responded. "Just don't turn out to be a freeloader after this, okay?" "It's agreed!" Teacher Bear said, giving Soon Lee a friendly handshake. "And while we're on the subject, I've got a little confession I need to make." "What's that?" Soon Lee asked, feeling a bit apprehensive about Teacher Bear's little giggles. "Well," she said, still giggling, "I made mashed potatoes as a side dish for dinner, and I had thought about looking to see if you had blue food coloring to put in it as a little joke." Soon Lee laughed out loud. "I think I do have blue food coloring!" she said. "You still want to do it? I bet Max'll get a real kick out of it!"

*****

The Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins hung helplessly in the spider webbing above No Heart's thunder pit. The large spiders skittered around the spell room, hungrily eyeing their catch. "Go on!" Brave Heart Lion shouted as a spider approached his leg. "Get away from me you big bug! I'm not afraid of you!" "I am!" Bright Heart Raccoon shouted in fear as a spider touched his tail. "Don't let them know you're scared Bright Heart!" Swift Heart Rabbit said, sticking his tongue out at an oncoming spider. "They've got me hanging upside down, and I'm still giving them trouble!"

From above Swift Heart, Grumpy Bear gave the bunny a kick in the behind. "Knock it off!" he scolded. "I can see out the window, and there's plenty more spiders out there. If you keep this up, you'll be lunch!" Bright Heart gulped heavily at the idea of being eaten by a spider. "I don't want to be a spider's meal! I didn't learn organic sciences and machinery just to end up in the belly of a bug!" From the bottom of the web, Brave Heart was beginning to get angry. "Knock it off Grumpy!" he shouted, making the web wiggle. "You're scarin' the daylights out of Bright Heart!"

No Heart could hear the Care Bears conversation from his thunder pit, and was very pleased with his success at catching the Care Bear family and all their little hearts. He stood over his darkening cauldron, chanting a spell and adding ingredients. "Beastly!" he commanded. "Bring me the smart little raccoon. I must know about the heart's anatomy so that I can contaminate them."

Grabbing a rather crude looking knife and a raw chicken, Beastly sauntered over to where Bright Heart was tangled in webbing. "Come on smarty pants," he chuckled as he began to cut the webbing. "Somebody wants to see you." "No!" Bright Heart screamed, wriggling and kicking with all his might. "Leave me alone! I don't wanna go!" "Shut up Care Bear!" Beastly shouted as he cut around Bright Heart, still keeping him tied up in webs. "You're comin' with me, and that's that! Boys, you know what to do!" Three spiders that were keeping guard on the family came to where Beastly had cut out Bright Heart. One of them tied Bright Heart even tighter so that he wouldn't escape. The other two repaired the hole in the web where Bright Heart was. Beastly rewarded the spiders with the raw chicken, which they tackled as soon as their job was finished. Happy to have won his battle with Bright Heart, Beastly dragged the reluctant raccoon to meet with the wizard.

As if being wrapped in a series of spider webs and being dragged on your rear end by a hairy troll wasn't bad enough, having to see someone who terrorizes your family on a regular basis one on one made Bright Heart quake with worry. Just what did No Heart want with him anyway?

"Oh No Heart!" Beastly crooned in a nasty voice. "I've got someone to see you!" The old wizard turned from his webful of captured hearts and made eye contact with the purple raccoon. "Ah yes, the smart one," No Heart said as he walked toward Bright Heart. "Tell me, how do these little hearts produce seeds?"

Bright Heart was taken aback by No Heart's calm questioning. Surely he was up to no good. "Why do you want to know that?" he asked, feeling chills run up and down his spine. "I wish to know the anatomy of these pesky little creatures and where their seeds are produced," he responded, still sounding frightfully calm.

Bright Heart was getting more and more skeptical by the minute. "Why would you want to know about heart anatomy?" he asked, trying to sound bold despite his voice cracking with fear. "Simple," No Heart said maniacally. "I want to alter their seeds. With their seeds altered, the clouds that make up your home will loose their density and the Kingdom of Caring will be no more!"

Bright Heart gasped at what the evil sorcerer had to say. "You can't do that!" Bright Heart squeaked in terror. "Oh, but I can," No Heart replied, "and you are going to tell me how to do it!" "No! I won't do it!" Bright Heart screamed, wriggling in vain to free himself from the thick webbing. "I had a feeling you would be obstinate," No Heart said, motioning for Beastly to do something. "That is why I thought I would inspire you with these."

As if on cue, Beastly lowered a cage containing Hugs, Tugs, Strategy, Showbiz, and Big Heart over a pen of huge spiders. "Those spiders look hungry, don't they," No Heart said calmly as the cubs screamed bloody murder. "NOOO!!! Don't hurt the cubs!!!" Bright Heart yelled as a spider grabbed hold of the cage,. Grumpy, Share, Champ, Cheer, Tender Heart, and Love-A-Lot screamed interchangeably as the spiders began reaching into the cage for their children. "So you agree to the circumstances?" No Heart asked, happy to see the purple raccoon nod his head in agreement. "I knew you would cooperate," he declared, digging his bony hand into the web ball to retrieve a heart. "Now show me what I wish to know."

Bright Heart hesitantly took the heart as Beastly raised the cage from the spider pen. "Well, let's see," he said, trying with all his might to stall time. The little heart looked fearfully at him, making the purple raccoon feel all the worse. The heart scrunched its little body up as Bright Heart tried to sound intelligent for No Heart. "You see, hearts are delicate creatures," Bright Heart said nervously as the heart began to tremble in his paw. "They like lots of room to play in, soft hiding spots, and... um..." Bright Heart could feel his enemy staring holes in him, a feeling he was none too comfortable with. "I don't care what they like and dislike!" No Heart began to shout, knowing what Bright Heart was trying to do. "Tell me where they hide their seeds!"

As Bright Heart clutched the little heart to protect it, he heard a loud noise coming from outside the castle. "Beastly!" No Heart shouted. "What the devil is that?" The furry little creature went to the nearest window to take a look. "It... uh... looks like a truck, boss," he said. "A what!" No Heart shouted, walking to the window to have a look for himself.

Sure enough, a big truck was headed his way, running over spiders left and right. "I thought you caught that infernal rabbit!" No Heart shouted. "I did!" Beastly said in response. "One of the spiders hung him upside down." No Heart rolled his menacing red eyes in frustration. "I'll take care of this myself!" he shouted as he transported himself outside via a large lightning bolt.

Grams Bear slowed the truck down as it approached No Heart. "Let my family go!" she shouted, honking her horn as loud as she could. "Never!" No Heart shouted in response, turning himself into a Texas longhorn bull. "If you think you'll be getting past me and my army of spiders, you are sadly mistaken." The large number of spiders clicked an agreement as they gathered around No Heart.

Grams locked eyes with No Heart, trying to think of what she could do to free her family. No Heart seemed to be waiting for her to make the first move, steadily watching her every movement. The little heart buckled next to her began to squeak fearfully, shrinking up in its seat. "Hold on little darling," Grams said as she shifted the semi truck in reverse. "I've got an idea."

Chapter 15: I Guess Things Happen That Way

Unlike many of the people who had taken the early shift that day at General Pershing's Veteran Hospital, Max Klinger was not looking forward to going home. He was envisioning his wife, Soon Lee, having a fit with him and their house guests for the umpteenth time this week. He didn't know how much more fighting he could withstand, and was seriously considering finding Teacher Bear and her little ones a new place to stay just so that he could win back his wife's affection. That and he was beginning to get tired of sleeping on the couch.

As he drove down Brindle Dr., Klinger tried to prepare himself for the worst. "Now honey, you know I didn't mean it," he rehearsed to himself, holding out a bouquet of flowers that he had bought from the hospital's gift shop as though he was about to give them to someone. "To show you how sorry I am, here's a little something nice." Klinger shook his head at what he had just said. "No, that's not right… Soon Lee baby, how's about we kiss and make up… no that's not it!"

Klinger pulled into the driveway, frustrated and angry about not having the perfect thing to say to his wife. "God, it's me down here," he prayed aloud as he shut the car off. "If you could patch things up for me and everybody here, I'll see to it that there's a big pay off in the church collection plate this Sunday." Klinger sat for a second as though awaiting a response from the heavens. "I hope you're not too busy up there making the sunset to help an oddball family like this one living under my roof, my wife included," he said as he got out of his car.

Taking a deep breath, Klinger opened the front door. Sitting right there in her wheelchair in front of him was Soon Lee, her arms crossed and her face twisted angrily. "Before you say anything, these are for you," Klinger said helplessly, thrusting the flowers at Soon Lee's face. Soon Lee sat for a minute saying nothing before taking the flowers from her husband and placing them in her lap. "Come with me," she said, sounding angry. "You need to see what that bear did in my kitchen." "Oh come on Soon Lee," Klinger said as his wife wheeled away from him, not saying a thing. "Don't give me the silent treatment. I wanna talk about this."

Soon Lee wheeled up to the kitchen door, stopping right in front of it. "You just look and see what that bear did in my kitchen," Soon Lee said as she grabbed hold of the handle. "Once you see in there, you'll know my answer to your question."

Before Klinger could get a word in edgewise, Soon Lee opened the door and wheeled in. "What the…" Klinger said, surprised to see how nice everything looked despite the hodgepodge of furniture that the cubs were in. Soon Lee gave her husband a sly smile as she wheeled herself up to the table. "I think you know my answer by now, Max," she said to her dumbstruck husband. "I don't believe it," he said as he took a few steps into the kitchen. "What made you change your mind?" "Let's just say your mother had something to do with it," Soon Lee said as Klinger took a seat next to her.

Teacher Bear took a seat next to Klinger, sitting on a few phone books to help her reach the table. "Soon Lee and I were able to work out our differences," she said as she placed a napkin on her lap. "In fact, she and I are wondering how your sister got a chicken bone stuck in the air vent, aren't we Soon Lee."

Klinger began to laugh out loud. "She told you about my sister's last visit?" he snorted. The two women nodded their heads as everyone began to laugh. "I'm glad everything's worked out," Klinger said as he kissed his wife on the cheek. "So what's for dinner?"

Soon Lee reached over for a bowl covered by a napkin. With a wide smile on her face, she uncovered the bowl for her husband. "I told you this bear would turn my kitchen blue," she said, scooping a spoonful of blue colored mashed potatoes onto his plate.

*****

"What's going on up there Grumpy," Swift Heart asked, straining his ears so that he could hear what was going on outside. "You're not gonna believe this," Grumpy said, sounding just as negative as ever. "Grams Bear is out there with that ridiculous truck of yours, and she's driving it in reverse!"

The Care Bear family exchanged their sounds of concern about the news. "Hey, pipe down you guys," Swift Heart shouted. "You've got nothing to worry about. I taught her everything I know." Grumpy grimaced at what Swift Heart had to say. "Now I'm extra worried," he said. "That and No Heart has turned himself into a giant bull. He's been trying to charge the truck!"

From inside the truck, Grams Bear was beginning to panic. "Where's the release valve for the back of the carrier!?!" she shouted as she pushed a few buttons, accidentally turning on the radio. The little heart unbuckled itself as Grams accidentally turned on the windshield wipers. The heart pressed the release button two or three times hoping to free the stars from the back of the truck. "Oh stars above! The door's stuck!" Grams screamed, causing the little stars in the carrier to go into hysterics.

No Heart was pleased to see Grams Bear in a panic, slowing down to a trot in order to enjoy the situation. "Give up Care Bear!" No Heart shouted in a booming voice. "It's obvious that you do not have that vehicle under control!"

As much as Grams hated to admit it, she knew that No Heart was right. She brought the truck to a smooth stop about 50 feet from the castle, the back end facing the building. She felt defeated, and No Heart knew it. "Excellent," he said, trotting triumphantly up to the truck accompanied by a team of spiders. "And it looks like you've brought some more experiments with you in the back." The little stars in the carrier began to squeak fearfully as No Heart tapped the sides with his horns. "Thanks to you, little Care Bear, I can now alter the stars to my liking, and the foundation of Care-A-Lot will crumble!"

The little heart watched as Grams brushed tears away from her cheeks. It knew it had to do something to make her feel better, especially since the spiders were beginning to climb onto the truck. The heart floated up to the dashboard, turning up the radio so that it could drown out the sounds of No Heart's taunting and the pesky spiders. Over the radio waves came the sound of the radio station:

"89.1, the Wood, Commercial Free Radio. You're listening to the 'Empowerment Hour' with Josh Anderson. That was Twisted Sister with 'We're Not Gonna Take It,' U2 with 'Beautiful Day,' and The Beatles with 'Here Comes the Sun.' Still to come is another great stretch of music to empower the mind and sooth the soul, including a special request from English professor and women's rights activist Dr. Sue Tretter, here on KCLC 89.1 The Wood, Commercial Free Radio." The DJ's voice was replaced by the requested song, "I Am Woman, Here Me Roar."

Grams turned to the little heart, who was smiling at her from the dashboard. "I think someone down there likes me," Grams smiled as she listened to the song, taking a deep breath and letting the lyrics empower her. "I've got one more idea," she said, knocking on the windows that lead to the carrier full of stars. "All of you need to head to the front of the compartment. You're going to feel a slight bump. After that, you'll know what to do!"

No Heart did not like what he was hearing, nor the fact that he was being ignored by the little old bear. "Turn that infernal contraption off at once!" he demanded, gazing angrily into the front cab of the truck. "Oh, lighten up you old fuddy duddy," Grams said in a teasing voice as she threw the truck once more in reverse, bumping the back of the carrier in to the castle. Once the truck had hit, the back of the carrier sprung open and the spiders flung off. The collision left a substantial amount of damage to both the carrier and the castle, but the stars were able to free themselves from the back.

"Care Bear!!!" No Heart shouted as a few of the stars attacked him. "I shall destroy you for this!" Grams quickly put the truck in gear and quickly drove off as the purple bull form of No Heart charged blindly at the truck, hitting the back of the carrier and tearing a hole in it.

The stars retreated into the castle to help the Care Bear family as Grams continued to drive around. The Care Bear family was relieved to see the stars working together. The stars split up into a series of groups, one group of the stars began picking up the spiders and tossing them into the thunder pit, another group helped free the snared hearts, yet another worked on freeing the Care Bear family, and the last group worked on catching Beastly. "Lemme go!" Beastly wailed as the stars tied him to a table leg with loose spider webbing. "Way to go little star buddies!" Bright Heart exclaimed as a few of them freed him from the webbing. "Let's get everyone else free!"

While all was going well inside the castle, things were becoming a bit complicated outside. "We've got to get No Heart to charge into that weak spot on the wall!" Grams shouted to her heart companion. "That's the only way I can see us getting this truck in there!" The heart squeaked its response as they avoided another narrow miss. It had an idea. Taking a deep breath and giving Grams a kiss on the cheek for good luck, it flew out the window. "Where are you going?" Grams yelled out the driver's side window. The heart didn't look back at the old bear. Instead it went strait for No Heart.

The heart landed on No Heart's head, pulling on his bull ears. "Leave me alone you repulsive little twit!" No Heart shouted as the heart continued yanking on the ears. No Heart began to flail about, bucking like a wild bull. The heart held on for dear life as Grams Bear pulled the truck around. "I don't believe it!" she exclaimed as she watched the brave little heart take on its opponent. "It's trying to make No Heart charge after it instead of the truck! Go little heart buddy! You can do it!"

The little heart had succeeded in angering No Heart, and when it felt safe enough to let go it floated into No Heart's sight. Giving the purple bull known as No Heart a sloppy raspberry, it made a mad dash for the weak spot in the wall. "You will end here little pest!" No Heart shouted as he charged at the heart, not realizing where it was leading him. Charging at full tilt, No Heart charged right into the weakened wall, punching a substantial sized hole in it. He continued to run down a wide corridor before reaching his laboratory, skidding to as stop just inches away from the thunder pit. As soon as he stopped, he noticed that the hearts and a few Care Bears were freed from the webbing. "BEASTLYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!" he screamed. "What is the meaning of this!!!!!" "I'm kinda tied up at the moment, boss!" Beastly shouted from where he was trapped. "Would ya mind giving me a hand?"

No Heart opened his mouth to yell again, but was cut off by a loud horn honking. "I am woman, hear me roar!" Grams shouted, honking the horn again as she drove down the corridor. In a panic, No Heart jumped into the thunder pit. "I'll get you for this Care Bear!" he shouted as he fell, having his fall broken by a few spider webs. "I'll be waiting for it!" Grams shouted back confidently as she slowed the truck to a complete, smooth stop. Everyone cheered as they made their way to the truck, Staring off a few more spiders along the way. "Hop in!" Grams smiled. "We've got to get these little hearts to Big Star Point before they combust!"

Chapter 16: Goodnight Starshine

The blue mashed potatoes were a hit at the Klinger house, especially with all the cubs. Klinger, Soon Lee, and Teacher Bear couldn't decide whether the cubs liked the color or the taste better, especially when they tried playing with the blue clumpy food. Teacher Bear made a mental note to make the dish again in a larger quantity so that the kids wouldn't run out.

The only downside to blue mashed potatoes was how much of a mess they were, especially for seven inquisitive cubs. Not only would the kitchen floor need to be cleaned, but the cubs needed a bath.

"Thank goodness for paper towels," Teacher Bear said as she sopped up the last of the mashed potatoes. "Yes, but those blue potatoes were a good idea," Soon Lee said as she whipped off the table. "If you want my opinion, I think Max liked them better than the babies did."

"Hey!" came Klinger's voice from the bathroom. "That's not very nice!" "I think your husband needs a little help giving the cubs a bath," Teacher Bear said as she tossed her used paper towel in the trash. "I'll finish up in here," Soon Lee said as she ran some water in the sink for dishes. "Just don't stay up too late. You and Father Mulcahey have to start out early to go buy your school books for next week. You know how much of an early bird he is." Teacher Bear nodded in agreement, remembering how often he would wake her in her childhood. Giving Soon Lee her thanks, Teacher Bear headed off to the bathroom to check up on Klinger and the cubs.

"Kiki wawa!" Curious Heart giggled as he splashed Klinger again. "That's right, you got me all wet," Klinger said as he wiped water from his face. "Now cut out the water works so I can wash your face. "Wat!" Curious Heart said, continuing to splash water around. "Wat! Wat! Wat! Wat Kiki!" A few of the other cubs noticed the fun game of "get Mr. Klinger wet," and decided to join in. "Wat! Wat!" they shouted, splashing to their hearts delight while some of the other cubs cried in discomfort.

"Having trouble?" Teacher Bear smiled as she entered the bathroom. "You tell me," Klinger said, water dripping from his face and hair. "Why don't I take this half of the tub, and you take the other," she offered. "Okay, but I hope you have a change of clothes," Klinger said as he took another face full of water.

After the cubs were finally finished bathing, Klinger and Teacher Bear decided that bath toys might be a wise investment. Once the cubs were dressed for bed, Teacher Bear changed into one of Soon Lee's old t-shirts. That would have to do until she could get a proper night gown. It was only 7:30, but she was very tired from the day's activities. Thankfully, the cubs seemed to be tired out from their excitement with dinner and their bath.

Teacher Bear switched off the bedroom light and turned on a little night light near the crib. The cubs were a bit crammed in the crib, but they had begun settling down comfortably. "Good night my little dear ones," Teacher Bear said as she headed to her bed. "Welcome home."

*****

"Convoy, hold!" Grumpy Bear shouted from his cloud mobile as they reached Big Star Point. Echoes of "convoy, hold" could be heard going down the line as everyone stopped their heart loaded vehicles.

It had been a rough rest of the trip for the little hearts. They, along with everyone else, still had traces of webbing stuck to them, which was very heavy for them to carry such a long distance. With everything that had happened, they were just too tired to float the rest of the way.

The Great Wishing Star was happy to see everyone had made the trip safely, even if he was surprised to see a large semi truck driving up to Big Star Point. "My goodness little friends," he said as the convoy pulled up. "We certainly are doing things a bit differently this year." "It was Grams Bear's idea," Grumpy said as he got out of his cloud car. "She really saved our necks, and the little hearts." Grams and Swift Heart both smiled at Grumpy for his kind words. The didn't want to say anything in front of the Great Wishing Star, but they were glad to hear something nice about the truck coming out of his mouth for a change. "She was great!" Swift Heart said. "She really gave nasty old No Heart the slip!"

The Great Wishing Star laughed warmly at Swift Heart's enthusiasm. "Yes, our Grams Bear is one special lady," he said, beaming warmly at blushing Grams. "Anyone would have done the same thing to help their family," she said humbly, holding out the little heart buddy that had helped her out. "Besides, I wouldn't have been able to do it without the encouragement of this special little heart."

The little heart that had been so helpful squeaked happily at the sight of the Great Wishing Star. "Is that right," the Great Wishing Star smiled as the heart began telling him all about its adventure with Grams Bear. "Well, you'll have to fill me in on all the details on the way up to the heavens my little friend. We have to get going."

The little hearts slowly began to float upward toward the Great Wishing Star. Grams and her special heart exchanged a little hug before saying good bye. The little heart smiled at her, making a dramatic deep breath like it had before. "Don't worry, my little darling," Grams said. "I'll remember to take calming breaths." The little heart waved as it gently floated upward with its family to begin spreading its seeds all over Care-A-Lot.

Chapter 17: I Did It

Two weeks after the heart round up, things were getting back to normal again in Care-A-Lot. No Heart hadn't shown himself, missions were run as normal, and Bright Heart's satellite was ready to be mounted on the Hall of Hearts for the third time, hopefully this time not to fall and break again.

In the line up for satellite crew were Brave Heart Lion, Playful Heart Monkey, Lotsa Heart Elephant, and Champ Bear with Grumpy Bear once again leading the pack. Behind them was a group of stars willing to lend a helpful appendage. "Is everybody ready?" Grumpy asked his recruits. "Yes sir!" they all responded, saluting him obediently. "Excellent!" he said. "Let's get a move on, and this time, no mishaps, okay?"

Once Grumpy had finished his little pep talk, a loud horn was heard coming from nearby. "Have any room for a few more?" Grams Bear said from the seat of her semi truck. "If you don't mind me saying, I think I know an easier way to do this."

The satellite crew looked a bit flabbergasted by Grams Bear's appearance, along with the appearance of the truck, and Swift Heart Rabbit seated in the passengers seats. "I'm afraid to ask," Grumpy said, looking ominously at the truck, "but what's your idea?"

Grams shut the truck off and got out to better point things out. Swift Heart followed behind her, grabbing a piece of paper and a crayon out of the glove compartment. "I'm sure you are well aware of how a heart is shaped," Grams began to explain in a matter of factual way, drawing the shape of a heart onto the paper that Swift Heart provided for her. "Well that goes without saying," Grumpy Bear said, crossing his arms in an "are you trying to make me look like a fool" way. "If you'll notice the little dimple in the middle," Grams explained, pointing to the top of her drawn heart, "it provides a perfect divot for the ropes to go with little chance of them slipping off the roof. We can pull the satellite up from the safety of the ground."

Grumpy's sour look softened as he took in Grams Bear's idea. "Hey, that could work really well," he said as he looked at her crude drawing. "Good thinking Grams Bear!" "That's not all the ideas I have," Grams said as she drew another little drawing onto the paper. "We could increase our efficiency a great deal if we didn't use man power to pull the dish up. If my guess is correct, we should be done by dinner time." Grumpy scratched his head at what Grams was drawing on the paper. "You want me to build a pulling machine?" he said as he looked at Grams odd drawing. The old bear had to admit, she wasn't the best sketcher, especially since what she drew looked like a box with scattered circles. "Not exactly," she said as she pointed to her lovely truck. "Swift Heart and I have already done it for you."

*****

"Guess whose home!" Klinger and Soon Lee said as they came home from their hospital shift. "Hello!" Teacher Bear said as she finished fastening a fresh diaper on Hungry Heart. "I'm ready to leave whenever you are."

Teacher Bear handed Hungry Heart over to Soon Lee, whose ankle had recovered fully by now. "You ready for your first night at school?" she asked as she took a seat on the couch with the happy go lucky cub. "I am," Teacher Bear admitted, smiling as though she had gotten something she had always wanted. "Tonight I have my history class." "You just pay attention in class, you hear me," Soon Lee said as she rattled a toy in front of baby Hungry Heart. "You still have to live up to your name, Miss Teacher Bear."

Running up to the play pen to give the cubs one last kiss good bye before leaving, Teacher Bear grabbed her school bag and went to the door with Klinger for her first night of college classes. "I've got the phone number to the college written down near the phone," she shouted as she opened the door. "Good luck with the kids!" "Good luck with your school!" Soon Lee shouted back as the door closed.

*****

With the change of plan came a change in equipment. Playful Heart and Brave Heart went to the roof of the Hall of Hearts to supervise the lift, placing a waxy lubricant on the crevice of the roof to help the ropes move smoother. Due to the slippery surfacing, Playful Heart and Brave Heart made sure they were wearing skid proof boots and were secured to a series of ropes tied in through the windows. Grumpy joined Bright Heart on the ground to help supervise the initial lifting. Lotsa Heart and Champ made sure that the satellite had plenty of padding so that it wouldn't break due to rough handling. Once all the ropes were firmly attached to both the truck and the satellite, Grumpy gave Grams the "okay" to start the pull.

"I'm putting her in first," Grams said over her walkie talkie as she let the clutch out. Slowly and effortlessly, the satellite lifted from the ground. "Looking good from my end," Grumpy said into his gadget. "How's it going up on the roof?" "Couldn't be better!" Brave Heart exclaimed. "I don't know why you didn't think of this earlier Grumpy Bear. This could have saved us a lot of heart ache." Grumpy slapped his forehead at what the lion had to say, yet continued his orders as though nothing had happened. "Just keep an eye on the satellite and let Grams Bear know when to stop, would ya?" "Okey dokey karaoke," Brave Heart said as he and Playful Heart kept an eye on the lifting.

"Roof crew to truck crew," Brave Heart said as the satellite came close to the top. "Slow to a stop. Repeat, slow to a stop. It worked!" Doing as she was told, Grams put the brakes on, letting the satellite stop just short of where it needed to be. "Truck crew to roof crew," Grams said enthusiastically into her walkie talkie. "The eagle has landed. Repeat, the eagle has landed!"

Grumpy put his skid proof boots on and climbed the ladder to fasten the satellite into place. "Ground crew to roof crew and truck crew," he said as he climbed the ladder. "I'm headed up to secure the dish. Repeat, I am going up to secure the dish."

Grams and Swift Heart smiled at their progress from where they sat. "I knew you could do it," Swift Heart said, giving his old friend a well deserved pat on the back. "Thank you Swift Heart," Grams smiled. "I guess it just goes to show you that you're never too old to learn something new."

"Roof crew to ground and truck crew," Brave Heart said through his walkie talkie. "The satellite is in! Repeat, the satellite is in! We did it!!!"

*****

"You nervous, Teach?" Klinger asked as he pulled up to Four Star Community College. "A little," Teacher Bear admitted as she unbuckled her seatbelt. "I feel a little weird going back to school with me being as old as I am." "Don't sweat over it," Klinger said, patting his little friend on the back. "I felt like that when I had to take X-ray classes. I was forty then, and you see how that turned out." "Thank you Klinger," Teacher Bear said with a gratifying sigh. "Don't thank me," he said. "Thank Mrs. Mulcahey for getting you as far as you are."

Teacher Bear sat for a moment, thinking of what Klinger said. "Hey you," Klinger said, snapping his fingers to get Teacher Bear's attention. "You're gonna be late for your first night at school if you keep day dreaming like that." "Oh, you're right," Teacher Bear said as she grabbed her book bag. "Thanks for the ride, Klinger!" "Take it easy, Teach!" Klinger shouted back to her through the window as she dashed away. "You'll do fine!"

Thanks to the handy little campus map printed on the back of her schedule, Teacher Bear made it to her class just before the professor walked in. She was greeted by a variety of looks from her soon to be class mates as she seated herself at the front of the class, but she didn't mind. She was there for the same reason they were, so they were just going to have to get used to it.

"Good evening class," the professor said as he walked into the room, not even looking at his class. "My name is Terry Williams, and I'll be teaching you American History 101," he said as he wrote some information on the board. The class responded in a typical "Hello Pr. Williams" as he rooted around in his briefcase for his attendance sheet. "I'll be calling roll right now to see if everyone who signed up for this course is here. This is a rule of the college, not mine. It's your responsibility to be here, and I expect you all to adhere to it," he continued as he finally made eye contact with the class. When he did, he noticed a certain little blue bear sitting front and center, ready to learn. "Is this a joke?" he said, pointing directly at Teacher Bear. "It certainly is not sir," she responded. "I'm here to learn just like the rest of your students." "Is that so," he said, leering at her from where he was standing. "Are you on my attendance sheet?" "I should be," Teacher Bear said. "Do you have a Bluebelle Mulcahey on there?"

Pr. Williams looked down on his sheet, hoping not to find her name. "Well, it appears you are," he said as he checked her name on the sheet. "Well, welcome aboard, Miss Mulcahey. Let's hope the semester goes smoothly."

Teacher Bear nodded her agreement as Pr. Williams continued to call out the attendance sheet to the rest of the class as he walked away from Teacher Bear's desk. "Oh great," she said in her mind. "What a way to start my first day of school."

To Be Continued…

Works Sited

Most important to me is giving credit to whom it belongs.

Father Mulcahey is my favorite character from the very popular television show M*A*S*H. His sister Katherine, also known as Sister Angelica, is only mentioned in the show, mostly through the mail. (Those letters were nicknamed 'nun-o-grams" rather than telegrams. ^_^) M*A*S*H is loosely based on a real Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (the 8055th) in Uijongbu, South Korea that was stationed three miles from the front lines of battle during the Korean war, 1950-1953. M*A*S*H also happens to be my all time favorite television show, although that doesn't keep me from loving the Care Bears!

Although M*A*S*H was very successful, all good things must come to an end. After an impressive 11 season run, M*A*S*H concluded. Some of the actors (Harry Morgan, Jamie Farr, and William Christopher) in the show did not like seeing the show end and were able to persuade the directors to create a spin off show that came to be called After M*A*S*H. After M*A*S*H takes place at General Pershing's Veteran Hospital in River Bend, Missouri. After M*A*S*H was not nearly as successful as its predecessor and was canceled during its second season.

The Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins are property of American Greetings and Nelvana, as you all know.

I got the name "Bluebelle" from my mother. That's what she called her first car! ^_^

The following companies I created for this fan fic. If they are real anywhere, please do not sue me: St. Anne's Homeless Shelter, Phillips Courteous Cab Services, and Four Star Community College.

"Keep on the Sunny Side" is an old blue grass classic.

"You Outta Be In Pictures" is yet another oldie, but the "wa, wa" was a small addition during the M*A*S*H episode "Lt. Radar O'Reilly."

Billy Bubba Rizzo was often referred to by his father, Luther Rizzo, in the later seasons of M*A*S*H. Rizzo often referred to his son as his "All American bouncing baby boy, Billy Bubba."

10930 Brindle St. is not a real address as far as I know. I named it Brindle since my two dogs have brindle (black and brown) fur. It sounded catchy enough.

The following locations are real: Lambert Airport, Philadelphia International Airport, and River Bend, Missouri.

Ozzie Smith is a Hall of Fame baseball player who played for the St. Louis Cardinals.

The situation concerning Dr. Harris comes from the M*A*S*H episode "Nurse Doctor." That was the episode where the studying female doctor "hugged the stuffings" out of Father Mulcahey. Classic!

The "convoy hold," situation came from the M*A*S*H episode "Bug Out." It went in a series of "convoy hold", "stand by for the blessing", and "hear me oh lord." Poor Frank, he's such a ferret face.

The Great Heart Round Up idea came from the Care Bear episode "The Great Star Round Up."

Soon Lee's epitome comes from After M*A*S*H. That is the reason they came to River Bend in the first place.

The radio station Grams and the heart buddy listen to (KCLC 89.1 The Wood, Commercial Free Radio) is actually Lindenwood University's radio station. Josh Anderson and Sue Tretter are real people, but we do not have an "empowerment hour." Wouldn't it be nice?

"I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar" is a song cowritten by Helen Reddy and singer/songwriter/guitarist Ray Burton. Released in its most well-known version in 1972, the song became an enduring anthem for the women's liberation movement.

I would like to thank my friends for all their help with getting this story off the ground: My friends Amber (Take Care Bear) for being the first one to hear about my fan fic idea and for posting it on her site, Robert (Good Luck Bear) for taking the time to read it and Sean (Swift Heart Rabbit) for helping me with errors I made along the way. Thank you all for your suggestions in the story. It would not be what it is if it hadn't been for you!

Also, to anyone who reads this long fan fic, thank you very much! After all, if it wasn't for you readers, there would be no point in writing. Now give your weary eyes a break! ^_^ THANKS!


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